Silas  Woocf  s 
SketcJ   of  13  • 

' )  'own  ;.<f 


Htintington,  Long  Island. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 


Wood's  Town  of  Huntington. 


<£bition  Ctmtteb 
to  2\5  Copies. 

Ho...- 


SILAS  WOOD, 

HUNTINGTON.     1^.    I.      I76i)-i847- 

From  an  original  daguerreotype. 


OILAS  WOOD'S  SKETCH  OF  THE 
O  TOWN  OF  HUNTINGTON,  L.I. 


FROM  ITS  FIRST  SETTLEMENT  TO  THE 

END    OF   THE    AMERICAN 

REVOLUTION. 


EDITED  WITH  GENEALOGICAL  AND 
HISTORICAL  NOTES 


WILLIAM  S.  PELLETREAU,  A.  M. 


NEW  YORK : 
FRANCIS  P.  HARPER, 
i: 


COPYRIGHT  1898, 

BY 
FRANCIS  P.   HARPER. 


CD 

CO 

CD 

CO 

TO 
Cc 

RICHARD  H.  HANDLEY,  ESQ., 

of  Smithtown,  Long  Island,  as  a  very  slight  token  of 

— •''O 

i  respect,  and  acknowledgment  of  many  favors 

and  much   assistance   in   the  work   of 
t\ 

«v  collecting  and  preserving  history, 

i 

^  this  work  is  respectfully 

dedicated. 

f 


88338 


INTRODUCTION. 

Among  the  earliest  settlers  on  Long  Island  was 
Jonas  Wood,  who  came  from  Halifax,  England,  and 
was  among  the  first  residents  of  Hempstead  in  1644. 
He  removed  to  Southampton  about  1649  and  became 
the  owner  of  land  in  the  right  of  ' '  his  father-in-law, 
Mr.  Sticklin,  of  Hempstead."*  From  Southampton 
he  removed  to  Huntington,  about  1655,  and  was  one 
of  the  original  purchasers  of  Copiage  and  the  five 
necks  east,  in  1657.  Tradition  states  that  he  was 
drowned  in  Peconic  River,  between  the  zoth  of  April 
and  the  i8th  of  May,  1660. 

Joshua  Wood,  one  of  his  descendants,  was  born 
October  12,  1716,  and  died  September  6,  1779,  aged 
63.  He  married  Ruth  Wood,  who  was  born  May  26, 
1724,  and  died  August  29,  1807,  in  her  84th  year. 
Their  children  were  Samuel,  Selah  and  Silas.  Of 
these  children,  the  youngest,  Silas  Wood,  who  has  left 
a  lasting  fame  as  the  Historian  of  Long  Island,  was 
born  at  West  Hills,  in  the  town  of  Huntington,  Sep- 
tember 14,  1769.  At  the  early  age  of  16  he  entered 
Princeton  College,  pursued  a  full  classical  course,  and 
graduated  from  that  institution  with  high  honors.  In 
1795,  he  was  elected  Member  of  Assembly,  where  he 

*See  Vol.  i,  Printed  Records  of  Southampton,  page  47. 

VII 


INTRODUCTION. 

served  for  four  years,  and  introduced  the  first  General 
Highway  Act,  which  with  a  few  changes  has  remained 
in  force  till  the  present  time. 

What  was  known  as  the  "  Great  West  "  at  that  time 
meant  the  western  part  of  the  State  of  New  York  and 
the  "  Ohio  region."  Mr.  Wood  became  the  owner  of 
a  large  tract  in  Johnstown,  and  spent  several  years  in 
establishing  a  settlement.  In  1802,  he  married  Catha- 
rine Huyck,  a  descendant  of  one  of  the  Dutch  families 
who  settled  in  the  Mohawk  valley.  She  died  suddenly 
while  they  were  on  a  journey  through  what  was  then 
a  wilderness,  now  Montgomery  County,  N.  Y.  Short- 
ly after  that  he  began  the  study  of  law,  and  was 
admitted  to  practice  in  the  Supreme  Court  of  that 
State,  February  15,  1810.  On  March  2nd  of  the  same 
year,  he  was  appointed  Master  in  Chancery,  and  in 
May,  1813,  became  Solicitor  in  Chancery.  In  Novem- 
ber, 1817,  he  was  elected  Member  of  Congress,  taking 
his  seat  March  4,  1819.  In  this  high  position  he  served 
five  terms,  a  period  of  ten  years.  During  the  whole 
of  his  Congressional  career  he  was  an  earnest  opponent 
of  the  extension  of  slavery  and  a  strong  supporter  of  a 
protective  tariff,  and  never  failed  to  advance  the  idea 
that  a  country  like  our  own  should  be  self-supporting 
and  entirely  independent  of  most  of  the  manufactured 
products  of  foreign  nations. 

From  1818  to  1821,  he  was  District  Attorney  for 
Suffolk  County,  and  for  a  long  term  of  years  he  was 
the  recognized  leader  of  the  Suffolk  County  Bar. 


VIII 


IN  TROD  UCTION. 

His  "  Sketch  of  the  Early  Settlements  of  Long 
Island,"  which  has  made  his  name  famous,  was  the 
work  of  his  leisure  time  for  many  years.  He  lived 
before  the  days  of  railroads,  and  his  journeys  in  pur- 
suit of  information  were  made  in  a  plain  box  wagon 
"as  plain  as  himself."  In  this  humble  vehicle  he 
traveled  throughout  the  Island  visiting  the  clerks' 
offices  of  every  town  and  county.  This  "Sketch" 
was  first  printed  in  1824,  and  was  a  small  volume  of 
66  pages.  A  second  edition,  containing  112  pages, 
was  published  in  1826.  A  third  edition,  of  183  pages, 
appeared  in  1828.  This  last  edition  was  printed  for 
the  sole  purpose  of  doing  honor  to  the  memory  of  Gen. 
Nathaniel  Woodhull.  The  first  edition  of  this  work 
was  limited  to  250  copies,  while  of  the  second  and  third 
only  100  copies  were  printed,  and  it  is  not  strange  that 
copies  are  now  scarce  and  command  a  high  price.  A 
fine  reprint  of  the  work,  with  a  brilliantly  written  life 
of  its  distinguished  author  by  his  friend  and  admirer, 
Alden  J.  Spooner,  Esq.,  was  issued  in  1865. 

The  "  Sketch  of  the  Geography  of  the  Town  of 
Huntington,"  which  is  here  reprinted,  was  prepared 
while  the  author  was  in  Congress.  Of  this  little  work 
only  a  limited  edition  was  printed,  and  a  large  portion 
of  that  was  destroyed  by  a  fire  that  consumed  the  house 
of  his  neighbor,  Moses  Rolph,  and  copies  of  the  orig- 
inal pamphlet  are  exceedingly  rare. 

In  the  spring  of  1830,  Silas  Wood  withdrew  entirely 
from  the  world  of  politics  and  business,  of  which  he 


IX 


INTRODUCTION. 

had  for  many  years  been  so  distinguished  a  part.  To 
make  his  separation  more  complete  he  sold  his  law 
library,  ceased  to  take  the  newspapers,  and  devoted 
the  remainder  of  his  years  to  religious  contemplation. 
At  the  age  of  63  he  joined  the  Presbyterian  Church. 
At  the  time  of  his  death  his  library  consisted  entirely 
of  a  small  number  of  religious  books,  which  he  left  to 
the  Presbyterian  Church,  at  Sweet  Hollow,  near  Hunt- 
ington. 

In  1829,  he  married  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Josiah 
Smith,  of  Long  Swamp,  Huntington.  He  left  no 
descendants  to  inherit  his  fortune  or  his  fame.  He 
died  at  peace  with  God  and  mankind  March  2,  1847, 
in  the  y8th  year  of  his  age.  His  remains  were  buried 
in  the  Old  Hill  burying  ground,  adjoining  the  Pres- 
byterian Parsonage  in  Huntington,  and  one  of  the 
plainest  of  plain  tombstones  marks  his  last  resting 
place. 

He  was  farsighted  as  a  statesman,  able  and  con- 
vincing as  a  lawyer,  careful  and  painstaking  as  a 
historian,  and  left  behind  him  a  reputation  for  honor 
and  uprightness  that  no  one  could  assail. 

WILLIAM  S.  PELLETREAU. 

SOUTHAMPTON,  L.  I.,  July  r2,  1898. 


A  SKETCH 


OF 


THE   GEOGRAPHY 


Town  of  Huntington ; 


BRIEF  HISTORY 


FIRST  SETTLEMENT  AND  POLITICAL  CONDITION 


TO   THE  END   OF 


THE  REVOLUTION. 


BY  SILAS  WOOD. 


WASHINGTON  : 


PRINTED  BY   DAVIS   &  FORCE,  (FRANKLIN'S   HEAD,  PENNSYLVANIA  AVE.) 

1824. 


A  SKETCH 

OF 


THE  GEOGRAPHY, 

OF  THE 

TOWN  OF  HUNTINGTON. 


SITUATION    AND    EXTENT. 

Htmtington  is  the  most  westerly  town  in  Suffolk 
county  —  it  comprises  a  section  of  the  island,  extend- 
ing from  the  sound  to  the  South-Bay,  in  its  widest 
part.  The  principal  village  lies  about  40  miles  north 
easterly  from  New- York,  in  40  deg.  52  min.  north 
latitude,  and  73  deg.  of  longitude,  west  of  Greenwich. 

It  is  bounded  on  the  north  by  the  sound,  on  the 
east,  by  a  line  running  from  Fresh  Pond  to  the  north- 
west angle  of  Winnacomac  Patent,  and  from  thence 
to  the  creek  east  of  Sunquam's  neck;  then  down  said 
creek  to  the  South-Bay,  and  from  thence  south  to  the 
ocean.  On  the  south  by  the  ocean,  on  the  west  by 
Cold  Spring  Harbour,  and  by  a  line  running  from  the 
head  of  the  said  harbour,  to  a  creek  west  of  West 
Neck;  then  down  the  said  creek  to  the  South-Bay, 
and  from  thence  running  southerly  to  a  monument  on 
the  beach,  fixed  by  commissioners  appointed  by  law 
in  1797. 


A  SKETCH  OF 

It  extends  about  10  miles  on  the  sound,  and  6  miles 
on  the  South- Bay,  and  20  from  north  to  south,  and 
contains  nearly  160  square  miles. 

In  1691,  Horse  Neck,1  which  lies  within  the  bounds 
of  Huntington  Patent,  was  annexed  to  Queen's  county, 
by  an  act  of  the  legislature,  and  has  remained  so  ever 
since. 

POPULATION.6 

By  the  census  of  1820,  the  town  of  Huntington  con- 
tained 4935  inhabitants  of  the  following  description: 

White  Males.  White  Females. 

Under  10  years,  -       728        Ditto.       -  645 

-  320 

404 

-  492 
395 


Between  10  &  16, 

-  344 

do. 

do.       16  &  26, 

428 

do. 

do.       26  &  45, 

-  464 

do. 

Upwards  of  45,    - 

382 

do. 

2346 

Male  Slaves. 

Under  14,      - 

-     9 

do. 

Between  14  &  26, 

-     19 

do. 

do.       26  &  45, 

-     5 

do. 

Upwards  of  45, 

i 

do. 

34 

Free  Coloured 

Males. 

Under  14, 

-       40 

do. 

Between  14  &  26, 

-     12 

do. 

do.         26  &  45, 

22 

do. 

Upwards  of  45, 

14 

do. 

2256 

Female  Slaves. 
10 
ii 

7 

2 


30 

Free  Coloured 
Females. 

-        38 

44 

'    '        25 
14 


88  121 


TOWN  OF  HUNTINGTON,  L.  I. 


All  other  persons — 60 
White  Males,  -       -  2846 
White  Females,        2256 
Male  Slaves,  -       -       34 
Female  Slaves,  30 

Free  coloured  Males,    88 
Free  coloured  Fe- 
males,   -       -       -     121 
Other  persons,  -          60 


Total, 


-  4935 


Employed  in  Agricul- 
ture,      -  -     1069 
Employed  in  Trade,  33 
do.      as  Tradesmen,  261 


1363 


COMPARATIVE    POPULATION. 


1820. 

East  Hampton,  -  1646 

South  Hampton,  4229 

Shelter-Island,    -  389 

Brook-Haven,  5218 

Islip,       -       -       -  1156 

Huntington,    -  4935 

Smith  Town,       -  1874 

River  Head,     -  1857 

South  Old,    -       -  2968 


Suffolk, 
Queens, 
Kings, 


Employment  of  Males  over  16. 

Agricul.     Com.     Manuf. 
Suffolk,       4642        342        1093 
Queens,      4130       102       1119 
Kings,           840         8 1         713 


Unemployed, 


Males. 

Females. 

24272 

11761 

11250 

21519 

9643 

9040 

11187 

5096 

45J4 

9612       525       2931 
Males  over  16,  14180 

Employed  in  A.  C.  M. ,   13068 


III2 


56978       26500 


24804  as  13  to  12 


A  SKETCH  OF 


Proportion  of  Population  of  Long-Island  to  the  State  of 
New -York. 


State. 

-  50,291  as  i  to  3 
163,338  as  i  to  6 

-  238,896  as  i 
340,120  as  i 


to; 
to  9 


Long-Island. 

1731,  -        -   17820 

1771,  -        -        27731 

1786,  -        -   30863 

1790,  -        -        36949 

1800,  -        -  42167 

1810,  -       -       48752 

1820,  -       -  56978 

Proportion  of  Population  of  New-York  to  the  United 
States. 


-  586, 141  as  i  to  14 

959,049  as  i  to  19 

1,372,812  as  i  to  24 


1790, 
1800, 
1810, 
1820, 


New- York. 
340, 1 20 
-    586,050 

959,°49 
1,372,812 


United  States. 

-  3,950,000  as  i  to  ii 
5,305,666  as  i  to  9 

-  7,230,514  as  i  to  7 
9,654,415  as  i  to  7 


Of  the  number  of  taxables  in  the  Town,  and  the 
valuation  of  their  real  and  personal  property  at  differ- 
ent periods. 

1687  taxables,  84       -     valuation,  $     15,088  68 

1787         do.  -       458       -  do.  326,352  52 

1819         do.  -       648       -  do.         1,253,850  oo 

1823         do.  -       729       -  do.  811,480  oo 

Comparative  valuation  of  the  several  towns  in  Suffolk. 


Valuat'n.  Tax.  Valuat'n.  Tax.  Valuat'n.  Tax.  Valuat'n.  Ta; 

1804. 

1812. 

1818. 

1823. 

East  Hampton, 

315900 

78 

97 

308200 

115 

57 

657900 

109 

65 

464060 

154 

Southampton, 

607380 

151 

85 

620490 

232 

63 

1357750 

226 

29 

960305 

320 

Shelter-Island, 

77040 

19 

•jti 

81735 

30 

54 

141490 

23 

:,s 

105640 

35 

South  Old, 

407170 

101 

79 

399100 

149 

66 

651600 

108 

60 

534920 

178 

River-Head, 

238490 

59 

62 

232891 

87 

33 

388066 

64 

6S 

267380 

89 

Brook-Haven, 

765910 

191 

48 

768050 

288 

01 

1369580 

228 

2ri 

969500 

323 

Smith-Town, 

418320 

104 

5S 

375464 

140 

79 

426675 

71 

11 

320078 

106 

Huntington, 

702030 

175 

51 

739720 

277 

39 

1253850 

208 

98 

811480 

270 

Islip, 

213400 

53 

35 

219730 

82 

39 

373370 

62 

23 

279349 

93 

3745640 

936 

41  1  3745380 

1404 

46 

6620281 

1103 

38 

4712712 

1570 

TO  WN  OF  HUNTINGTON,  L.  I. 

Of  the  several  Counties  on  the  Island  in  1821. 
Kings,     $  3,513,164 
Queens,       5,876,775 
Suffolk,      4,889,474 

Whole  State. 

$14,279,413 — 241,283,532  as  i  to  16. 

Proportion  of  the  valuation  of  the  County  of  Suffolk  to 
the  State. 

COUNTY.  STATE. 

1815  $  6,834,906  $  293,882,224  as  i  to  43. 

1817  6,676,267  315,370,836  as  i  to  47. 

1819  5,327,392  281,068,280  as  i  to  52. 

1820  5,267,141  256,605,300  as  i  to  48. 

1821  4,889,474  241,283,532  as  i  to  49. 

CLIMATE. 

The  insular  situation  of  this  town  renders  it  more 
temperate  than  places  in  the.  same  parallel  of  latitude, 
at  a  distance  from  the  sea.  In  the  summer  it  is  regu- 
larly fanned  by  a  sea  breeze,  which  generally  rises 
afternoon,  but  sometimes  before,  and  extends  more  or 
less  across  the  Island,  according  to  the  strength  and 
continuance  of  the  wind.  In  the  winter  the  predomi- 
nant winds  are  from  the  west  and  southwest.  The 
thermometer  seldom  sinks  below  zero  in  winter,  and 
seldom  rises  higher  than  90  degrees  in  summer.  The 
mean  temperature  of  the  year  is  about  51  degrees,* 
and  the  weather  is  clear  three-fifths  of  the  year. 

*  The  mean  temperature  of  Italy  30  years  before  the  birth  of 
Christ,  was  about  51 — in  the  year  1783,  it  was  68.  The  mean  tem- 
perature of  the  different  places  in  Europe  is  about  10  degs.  higher 
than  the  corresponding  latitudes  in  the  United  States,  and  this  is 
found,  by  experiment,  to  be  about  the  difference  of  the  tempera- 
ture of  the  earth  in  cleared  and  uncleared  land. 


A  SKETCH  OF 

White  frost  happens  when  the  thermometer  is 
at  49  degs. 

And  black  do at  39  degs. 

Peach  trees  bloom  the  last  of  April. 

Apple  trees  bloom  the  loth  of  May. 

The  white  oak  begins  to  leave  2oth  of  May. 

The  dog  wood  blossoms  ist  of  June. 

Pasture  is  fit  for  horses  the  aoth  of  May,  and  con- 
tinues till  the  2oth  of  November. 

Cattle  need  some  kind  of  provender  for  six  months 
in  the  year. 

The  following  are  the  results  of  a  series  of  observa- 
tions made  in  Huntington  for  455  days,  commencing 
the  ist  September,  1821. 

Greatest  Heat.  Greatest  Cold. 

1822,  July  4 — 94  1822,  January  5 — 5  below  zero, 

do.       20 — 94  do.  14 — 4         do. 

do.  24 — at  zero. 

September  3 — 94  do.  25 — 2  below. 

The  mean  temperature  of  the  several  months  in  the 
year  from  the  ist  September,  1821  to  ist  September, 
1822. 


September, 

-     67  degrees. 

Winds. 

October, 

-     54      do. 

North, 

20 

November, 

-     43       do. 

Northwest,     - 

41 

December, 

-     32       do. 

Northeast, 

52 

January, 

-     25       do. 

East, 

59 

February, 

-     30       do. 

Southeast, 

21 

March, 

-     41       do. 

South, 

25 

TOWN  OF  HUNTINGTON,  L.  I. 


April, 

May, 

June, 

July, 

August, 


48  degrees. 
6 1       do. 
69       do. 

75       d°- 
72       do. 


Winds. 

Southwest,      -  120 
West,  -  117 


The  mean  of  the 
year,  -  -  51 

Temperature  of 
deep  wells  and 
springs,  -  -  51 


455 

Weather. 

Clear,           -  270 

Cloudy,       -  113 

Rainy,  5 1 

Snowy,  2 1 


455' 


SURFACE    OF    THE    COUNTRY. 


The  surface  of  this  town  along  the  sound,  and  for 
two  or  three  miles  from  it,  is  rough  and  uneven,  and 
in  some  places  stony — it  then  becomes  level,  and  con- 
tinues so  from  2  to  4  miles  in  different  places,  when 
there  are  three  separate  short  ridges  or  groups  of  hills ; 
to  wit,  the  west  hills,  the  hilly  land  around  the  long 
swamp  and  Dix  hills — these  are  irregular,  and  extend 
two  or  three  miles  in  length,  and  nearly  the  same  in 
breadth.  South  westerly  of  Dix  hills,  after  a  small 
interval  of  level  land,  there  is  another  tract  of  elevated 

*NOTE — The  mean  temperature  at  the  City  of  Washington, 
was  as  follows : 


September 72.10 

October 57-n 

November 42. 2 1 

December 32.30 

January 24.45 

February 33 


March 44 

April 52.30 

May 65.30 

June 69.40 

July 73-20 

August 76 


And  the  mean  temperature  of  the  year  53.35. 


A  SKETCH  OF 

land  rising  in  the  midst  of  the  plain  land,  and  extends 
about  three  miles  east  and  west,  and  about  two  miles 
north  and  south,  called  the  half-way  hollow  hills. 

From  these  different  hills,  there  is  a  gentle  descent 
to  the  South-Bay,  but  it  is  so  gradual  and  impercep- 
tible as  not  to  be  distinguished  from  a  perfect  plain — 
the  rise  from  the  South-Bay  to  the  high  land,  near  the 
sound,  not  being  supposed  to  exceed  10  feet  in  a  mile. 

The  South-Bay  is  bordered  with  salt  and  sedge 
meadows  about  one  mile  deep;  north  of  these  mead- 
ows, there  is  a  strip  of  oak-timber  from  one  to  two 
miles  wide ;  from  this  strip  of  timber,  which  is  called 
the  south  woods,  north  to  the  hills  and  high  lands,  a 
distance  of  from  5  to  10  miles;  in  different  places,  the 
whole  country  is  a  barren  pitch-pine  and  shrub  oak  plain. 

SOIL. 

The  soil  on  the  neck's  on  the  sound  is  usually  good, 
and  is  the  best  land  in  the  town — for  nearly  10  miles 
from  the  sound,  the  soil  is  tolerably  good;  and  with 
manure,  is  capable  of  being  rendered  very  productive 
— it  then  becomes  more  sandy.  The  soil  on  the  hills 
and  high  land  is  usually  the  best  and  most  productive. 

The  pine  plain  is  a  bed  of  sand,  with  intervals  of  a 
thin  covering  of  sandy  loam,  and  is  uninhabited,  ex- 
cept near  the  creeks  that  head  there. 

The  tract  of  land  which  lies  between  the  plains  and 
tne  salt  meadows,  is  the  only  land  that  is  cultivated  on 
the  south  side — the  soil  is  generally  a  very  sandy 

8 


TOWN  OF  HUNTINGTON,  L.  I. 

loam ;  it  is  a  thin  but  kind  soil,  and  many  of  the  pro- 
prietors, by  the  aid  of  the  grass  produced  by  the  mead- 
ows and  islands  in  the  South  Bay,  and  the  sea  weed 
that  drifts  on  the  shores,  have  rendered  their  farms 
quite  productive,  especially  in  grain ;  but  the  soil  is  so 
porous,  that  the  same  process  must  be  continually 
renewed  to  keep  them  so. 

The  soil  of  every  part  of  the  town  is  more  or  less 
mixed  with  sand,  and  is  deficient  in  moisture — it  is 
very  liable  to  suffer  by  drought,  and  is  much  better 
adapted  to  grain  than  grass. 

The  south  meadows  and  the  islands  in  the  South- 
Bay  produce  an  abundance  of  salt  and  sedge  grass, 
and  are  admirably  well  calculated  to  remedy  the  de- 
fects of  the  soil  by  furnishing  the  inhabitants  with  a 
substitute  for  English  hay,  for  the  support  of  their 
stock. 

AGRICULTURE. 

The  inhabitants  of  this  town  have,  within  twenty 
years,  generally  begun  to  improve  their  farms  by 
manure,  and  in  some  instances  they  have  brought  them 
into  a  high  state  of  cultivation.  Those  who  live  on  the 
north  and  south  sides  of  the  Island,  possess  more  ad- 
vantages with  regard  to  the  means  of  procuring  ma- 
nure, and  have  availed  themselves  of  their  situation. 
The  land  on  the  south  side  has  improved  more  in  value 
within  20  years  than  any  other  part  of  the  town :  but 
many  farms  on  the  north  side  and  in  the  interior  of 
the  town  have  greatly  increased  in  value,  and  the 


A  SKETCH  OF 

whole  town  has  been  rendered  much  more  productive 
both  in  grain  and  grass  than  it  formerly  was.  The 
people,  generally,  have  become  much  more  careful  to 
increase  the  quantity  of  their  barn  yard  and  other 
manure,  than  they  formerly  were.  Those  who  are 
able,  usually  procure  leeched  ashes  and  other  lighter 
manures  in  addition  to  their  own  stock.  Experience 
has  proved  that  ashes  are  the  most  productive  and 
permanent  manure  that  can  be  employed  in  this  town. 
The  importation  of  this  article  has  become  a  regular 
business,  and  forms  the  largest  item  in  the  trade  of 
the  town. 

WATER. 

The  high  land  near  the  sound  and  the  ridges  of  hilly 
land,  abound  with  ponds  of  standing  water;  there  are 
few  farms  without  one  or  more  of  them,  and  many  of 
them  are  left  unenclosed  for  public  watering  places. 
Springs  abound  near  the  harbours  on  the  north  side, 
and  near  the  creeks  on  the  south  side ;  and  there  are 
some  excellent  Springs  at  the  West  Hills  and  half-way 
Hollow  Hills.  The  ponds  on  the  high  lands  supply 
the  beasts — water  for  domestic  use  is  derived  from 
wells,  but  on  the  level  land  the  water  is  obtained  from 
wells  for  both  purposes.  Those  on  the  hilly  lands  are 
shallow,  but  on  the  level  land  are  deeper,  and  near 
the  sound  very  deep,  frequently  as  low  as  the  level  of 
high-water  mark. 


10 


TOWN  OF  HUNTINGTON,  L.  I. 

HARBOURS,    BAYS    AND    CREEKS. 

There  are  several  harbours  on  the  sound  within  the 
limits  of  the  town — these  are  Cold  Spring  Harbour, 
Lloyd's  Harbour,  Huntingdon  Harbour,  and  Great 
and  Little  Cow  Harbour.  The  tide  rises  and  falls  on 
an  average  of  about  7  feet  in  these  harbours,  and  they 
are  navigable  for  vessels  drawing  8  or  10  feet  of  water. 
The  large  bay  formed  by  Eaton's  and  Lloyd's  Neck's, 
affords  water  sufficient  for  vessels  of  large  size,  and 
was  a  station  for  some  of  the  ships  belonging  to  the 
British  fleet,  during  the  Revolutionary  war.  The 
streams  that  fall  into  these  harbours,  and  the  heads  of 
the  harbours,  by  means  of  dams  thrown  across  them, 
afford  accommodations  for  mills  and  other  water 
works. 

The  South-Bay  lies  between  the  meadows  and  the 
beach,  and  is  about  4  miles  wide ;  it  is  separated  from 
the  ocean  by  the  beach,  which  is  a  body  of  pure  fine 
sand,  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  wide,  and  reaches  from 
Rockway  to  South  Hampton,  nearly  80  miles  in  extent. 
There  are  several  inlets  or  openings  in  the  beach, 
which  form  communications  between  the  ocean  and 
the  bay,  through  which  vessels  pass  from  one  to  the 
other — these  inlets  are  all  in  the  towns  of  Islip,  Oys- 
terbay  and  Hempstead. 

The  Fire  Island  inlet,  which  is  the  principal  one, 
is  in  Islip,  a  few  miles  east  of  Huntington  line. 

The  tide  rises  and  falls  in  the  bay  near  the  inlets 
about  2  feet,  and  lessens  as  the  distance  from  the  in- 

ii 


A  SKETCH  OF 

lets  increases,  at  Moriches — the  rise  and  fall  are  scarce- 
ly perceptible. 

The  bay  is  shallow,  but  the  channels  that  intersect 
and  traverse  it  admit  of  vessels  that  draw  4  or  5  feet 
water,  and  it  is  navigable  for  flat  bottomed  vessels 
through  its  whole  extent. 

The  bay  is  gradually  diminishing  in  width  by  the 
sand  blown  from  the  beach,  which,  in  the  memory  of 
persons  now  living,  has  formed  large  tracts  of  meadow 
on  the  north  side  of  it — it  is  also  becoming  more  shal- 
low by  means  of  the  sand  blown  from  the  beach,  and 
forced  into  it  from  the  sea,  by  the  tide.  The  meadows 
are  seldom  overflowed  as  they  formerly  were,  and  are 
less  productive  on  that  account,  and  the  navigation  of 
the  bay  is  becoming  more  difficult.  During  the  revo- 
lutionary war,  privateers  of  considerable  size  entered 
the  Fire  Island  Inlet,  which  at  this  time  will  hardly 
admit  vessels  drawing  six  feet  water. 

The  south  bay  contains  a  number  of  small  islands  of 
salt  marsh,  which  are  not  susceptible  of  cultivation, 
and  are  only  valuable  for  the  grass  they  produce. 

The  south  side  of  the  town  is  indented  by  10  or  12 
small  streams  or  creeks,  the  greater  number  of  which 
reach  only  a  small  distance  above  the  salt  and  sedge 
meadows — they  generally  take  their  rise  in  the  swamps, 
in  the  woods  north  of  the  meadows,  and  are  from  i  to 
2  or  3  miles  in  length.  The  stream  on  the  west  side 
of  Sunquam's  Neck,7  rises  in  a  swamp  near  the  Half 
Way  Hollow  Hills,  and  is^  6  or  7  miles  in  length ;  none 


12 


TOWN  OF  HUNTINGTON,  L.  7. 

of  these  streams  are  navigable  above  the  meadows, 
but  several  of  them  furnish  water  for  mills ;  and  the 
one  on  the  west  of  Sunquam's  supports  3  grist  mills 
and  4  saw  mills.  There  are  also  Indian  shell  banks 
on  several  of  these  creeks. 

NATURE    OF    THE    EARTH. 

The  whole  town  is  evidently  alluvial;  some  have 
supposed  that  the  elevated  land  near  the  sound  was  not 
alluvial,  but  recent  discoveries  of  parts  of  trees  above 
an  hundred  feet  below  the  surface  in  this  tract  of 
country,  prove  that  no  part  of  it  is  of  primitive  forma- 
tion.* In  no  part  of  the  town  can  the  earth  be  per- 
forated many  feet  without  coming  to  sand ;  on  the  high 
land,  as  well  as  elsewhere  a  few  feet  from  the  surface, 
you  invariably  discover  the  same  composition  of  earth ; 
the  usual  strata  are  loam — loam  mixed  with  gravel  or 
sand,  and  sand  with  occasional  thin  strata  of  loam  or 
marl  on  the  hills,  but  very  seldom  elsewhere ;  and  the 
deeper  you  go  the  purer  the  sand. 

On  a  slope  at  the  west  end  of  the  ridge,  called  the 
Half- Way  Hollow  Hills,  there  is  a  small  tract  of  land 
covered  with  coarse  sand  stones  of  a  dark  yellow  col- 
our, some  of  which  appear  to  be  intermixed  with  some 
mineral  substance.  The  earth  here  has  been  opened, 

*  Mr.  John  Velsor,  who  lives  about  two  miles  south  west  of 
Cold  Spring  Harbour  in  Oysterbay,  in  digging  a  well  some  years 
since,  at  the  depth  of  no  feet,  found  a  part  of  a  tree  about  4  feet 
in  length  and  several  inches  in  diameter  entire,  with  the  usual 
marks  distinct,  but  which  soon  decayed  on  its  being  exposed  to 
the  open  air. 

13 


A  SKETCH  OF 

and  a  quantity  of  the  sulphuret  of  iron  discovered  in  a 
dark  coloured  moist  earth.  At  the  depth  of  eighteen 
feet  a  quantity  of  the  limbs  and  outer  bark  of  the  pitch 
pine  was  found,  with  the  cavities  and  interstices  filled 
with  this  mineral  substance — but  whether  the  branches 
and  bark  of  the  pine  are  an  original  deposition  in  the 
alluvial  formation  of  the  country,  or  have  by  some 
explosion  and  rupture  been  let  into  the  earth,  as  the 
composition  of  some  of  the  stones  on  the  surface  would 
seem  to  indicate,  must  be  left  to  conjecture. 

TIMBER. 

The  predominant  timber  on  the  north  side  and  on 
the  high  lands  is  oak,  hickory  and  chesnut,  and  with 
these  is  an  intermixture  of  various  other  kinds — the 
timber  on  the  plains  is  pitch  pine  and  shrub  oak  brush, 
with  spots  intermixed  with  a  kind  of  dwarf  white  oak. 
Before  the  revolutionary  war  the  people  of  Huntington 
were  very  careful  of  their  timber,  and  cut  only  such  as 
was  old  and  decayed.  During  the  war  the  British 
refugees  seized  the  farms  of  such  of  the  inhabitants  as 
had  retired  within  the  American  lines,  and  cut  off  all 
the  timber,  and  it  was  then  supposed  had  ruined  the 
farms ;  but  within  a  few  years,  these  farms  were  cov- 
ered with  a  fine  growth  of  young  timber.  This  dis- 
covery has  changed  the  mode  of  managing  timber 
land.  The  practice  now  universally  adopted  is  to  cut 
the  timber  entirely  off  and  to  keep  the  sprouts  fenced, 
and  in  this  way  it  is  supposed  the  timber  on  the  hills 

14 


TOWN  OF  HUNTINGTON,  L.  I. 

and  the  high  land  will  replace  itself  in  every  thirty 
years. 

The  town  abounds  with  the  plants,  shrubs,  and 
flowers  of  similar  climates,  and  produces  a  variety  of 
valuable  medicinal  plants. 

ANIMALS. 

When  the  town  was  first  settled,  it  abounded  with 
several  kinds  of  wild  beasts,  and  wild  fowl,  that  are 
no  longer  to  be  found  here,  particularly  wolves  *  and 
wildcats,  wild  turkeys,  swans,  and  pelicans :  deer  were 
formerly  abundant,  and  they  still  traverse  the  pine 
plain,  but  as  there  are  no  large  swamps  and  thickets 
within  the  limits  of  this  town  to  afford  them  refuge 
and  shelter,  they  seldom  resort  here.  There  are 
foxes,  and  squirrels,  rabbits,  and  various  other  small 
animals.  Birds  are  plenty,  the  most  valuable  are  the 
growse,  the  partridge,  the  quail,  the  plover,  and  the 
woodcock. 

The  south  bay  abounds  with  wild  fowl  in  their 
season ;  among  which  are  the  wild  goose,  the  brant, 
the  broad  bill,  the  widgeon,  the  black  duck,  and  the 
sheldrake.  The  bay  also  abounds  with  fish,  many  of 
which  are  animals  of  passage  as  well  as  the  birds, 
among  which  are  the  bass,  the  sheep's  head,  the  weak 
fish,  and  various  others.  Several  species  of  fish  are 

*  November  loth,  1685,  the  committee  who  adjusted  the  charges 
against  the  county,  allowed  ^43  13  for  forty-three  wolves,  young 
and  old  killed  the  year  preceding,  of  which  number  fifteen  were 
killed  in  Huntington. 

15 


A  SKETCH  OF 

taken  in  the  bays  on  the  north  side.  Lobsters  are 
taken  in  the  sound,  and  the  bays  on  both  sides  of  the 
town  abound  with  eels,  and  most  kinds  of  shell-fish. 

Serpents  are  not  numerous;  those  most  frequently 
seen  are  the  striped  snake,  the  black  snake,  the  water 
snake,  and  the  adder;  the  rattle  snake  is  sometimes 
seen,  but  very  rarely. 

HISTORY    OF    THE    FIRST    SETTLEMENT. 

A  settlement  was  attempted  at  Huntington  as  early 
as  1640,  but  was  interrupted  and  broken  up  by  Kieft, 
the  Dutch  Governor,  in  1642,  and  the  people  went  to 
the  east  end  of  the  island  and  formed  a  settlement  at 
Southampton,  which  was  the  foundation  of  that  town. 

The  earliest  Indian  deed  for  lands  in  this  town,  is 
the  deed  to  Governor  Eaton,  for  Eaton's  Neck,  in 
1646.  The  first  Indian  deed8  to  the  original  settlers  of 
Huntington,  was  obtained  in  1653,  and  comprises  all 
the  lands  between  Cold  Spring  and  East  Cowharbour, 
and  extending  from  the  Sound  to  the  old  Country 
Road,  including  Horse  Neck,  which  it  seems  was  not 
intended  to  be  conveyed  by  the  Indians,  and  was  sold 
in  1654,  to  three  men  living  in  Oysterbay. 

This  may  be  considered  the  date  of  the  first  perma- 
nent settlement  in  the  town. 

It  is  to  be  regretted,  that  we  have  no  account  of  the 
transactions  or  state  of  the  settlement  during  the  first 
five  years  from  its  commencement.  The  records  of 
those  years  have  by  some  means  or  other  been  de- 

16 


TOWN  OF  HUNTINGTON,  L.  I. 

stroyed,  and  all  the  events  connected  with  that  inter- 
esting period  are  unknown. 

In  1656,  the  people  of  Huntington  obtained  a  deed 
for  the  land  extending  from  Cowharbour  to  Nissaquage 
River,  and  from  the  Sound  to  the  Country  Road.  Six 
of  the  South  Necks  were  purchased  in  1657,  and  three 
in  1658;  the  other  Neck  with  the  lands  lying  south  of 
the  Country  Road,  were  purchased  at  different  times 
after  that  date. 

INDIAN    PROPRIETORS. 

The  lands  in  the  town  of  Huntington3  were  claimed 
by  three  different  tribes  of  Indians;  the  Matinecoes, 
the  Massapeags,  and  the  Secataugs.  The  first  claimed 
the  country  from  Cold  Spring  to  Nissaquage  River, 
and  from  the  Sound  to  the  old  Country  Road ;  the  sec- 
ond claimed  that  part  of  the  town  which  lies  between 
the  old  Country  Road  and  the  South  Bay,  as  far  east 
as  a  line  from  the  middle  of  Copiague  north  to  the  said 
Country  Road ;  and,  the  third  claimed  all  the  remainder 
of  the  town. 

Wyandance  Sachem,  of  Montauk,  in  1659,  sold  the 
lands  on  both  sides  of  the  Nissaquage  River,  extend- 
ing west  as  far  as  Cowharbour,  to  Lyon  Gardiner,  of 
East  Hampton,  who,  in  1663,  sold  to  Richard  Smith. 
Mr.  Smith8  obtained  a  deed  of  confirmation  for  the 
same  lands  of  the  Sachem  of  the  Nissaquage  Indians, 
in  1665,  who  was  dissatisfied  with  the  sale  made  by 
Wyandance,  and  thus  became  the  sole  proprietor  of 
Smithfield,  as  it  was  then  called. 


A  SKETCH  OF 

Both  these  Sachems  denied  the  right  of  the  Matin- 
ecoc  Indians4  to  the  lands  between  Cowharbour  and  Nis- 
saquage  River,  which  they  had  sold  to  the  people  of 
Htmtington.  5  The  conflicting  claims  of  these  different 
tribes  of  Indians,  produced  a  long  controversy  between 
the  people  of  Htmtington  and  the  proprietor  of  Smith - 
town,  which,  after  an  arbitration  and  several  law  suits, 
terminated  in  1675,  in  a  division  of  the  disputed  prem- 
ises between  the  parties,  and  the  boundary  between 
the  two  towns  was -determined  to  be  a  line,  running 
from  Fresh  Pond  to  Whitman's  Hollow;  the  north- 
west corner  of  Winnacomac  patent.9 

STATE    OF    THE    INDIANS. 

There  is  no  record  of  the  number  of  Indians  belong- 
ing to  these  tribes,  it  is  presumed,  however,  that  they 
were  considerably  numerous.  The  shell  banks  around 
the  harbours  on  the  north  side,  and  the  creeks  on  the 
south  side  of  the  town,  from  their  size  and  number 
indicate  that  the  population  was  once  very  consider- 
able, or  must  have  been  stationary  there  a  long  time. 

Their  numbers  were  such  as  rendered  it  prudent  for 
the  first  settlers  to  take  measures  to  guard  against  sur- 
prise, and  to  be  prepared  to  resist  any  attack  that  they 
might  make  on  them. 

By  a  vote  of  town  meeting  in  1658,  every  man  was 
required  to  be  provided  with  a  good  gun  and  sword, 
and  with  a  certain  quantity  of  powder  and  lead,  and 
was  obliged  to  assemble,  when  warned,  under  a  pen- 
alty for  neglect  in  any  of  these  respects.  The  first 

18 


TOWN  OF  HUNTING  TON,  L.  I. 

settlers  also  erected  a  fort  for  their  security,  which  by 
a  vote  of  town  meeting  in  1680,  they  gave  to  Mr. 
Jones,  their  minister,  for  fire  wood.  These  precau- 
tions were  probably  taken  as  well  against  the  Indians 
as  the  Dutch. 

The  Duke's  laws  in  1665,  prohibited  the  sale  of  arms 
and  ammunition  to  the  Indians,  and  in  1670,  the  whites 
were  forbidden  to  sell  horses  to  them.  October  yth, 
1 68 1,  four  Indians  came  to  a  store  at  Cold  Spring  in 
the  night,  and  forcibly  took  two  guns  and  a  quantity 
of  rum,  tobacco,  and  venison,  and  threatened  the  lives 
of  the  family.  The  first  settlers  were  in  the  practice 
of  guarding  their  cattle  which  they  turned  in  the 
wood,  and  it  might  have  been  to  protect  them  against 
the  Indians  as  well  as  wild  beasts,  and  it  is  probable 
they  might  have  been  sometimes  troublesome  to  in- 
dividuals ;  but  the  records  furnish  us  no  evidence  that 
the  settlement  was  ever  interrupted  by  any  general 
attack  by  them. 

The  Indians  raised  corn  and  vegetables,  and  these 
with  the  deer,  wild  fowl,  and  various  kinds  of  shell 
fish,  and  other  fish  that  abounded  here,  must  have 
afforded  them  easy  and  ample  means  of  subsistence. 
Notwithstanding  these  advantages,  they  still  continued 
in  the  hunter  state,  and  had  made  no  advances  in  the 
arts  which  are  usually  first  cultivated  in  the  infancy  of 
society ;  they  were  not  distinguished  by  their  dwellings, 
their  clothing,  their  domestic  utensils,  or  their  weapons 
from  the  natives  of  the  interior.  The  only  materials 


A  SKETCH  OF 

of  art  among  them  seem  to  have  been  some  rude  ves- 
sels of  earth  hardened  in  the  fire,  and  these  are  some- 
times found  in  their  shell  banks. 

They  had  certain  festivals  in  which  it  was  supposed 
they  worshiped  evil  spirits,  and  by  the  Duke's  laws  of 
1665,  it  was  enacted  that  "  no  Indians  should  at  any 
time  be  suffered  to  pawaw,  or  perform  worship  to  the 
devil,  in  any  town  within  the  government ; ' '  but  noth- 
ing is  now  certainly  known  of  the  manners,  customs 
or  religious  sentiments  of  these  tribes  of  Indians. 

At  the  first  settlement  of  this  town,  these  tribes 
seem  to  have  been  under  the  influence  of  Wyandance 
Sachem,  of  Montauk,  and  in  some  kind  of  subjection 
to  him.  The  first  purchaser  of  these  tribes  deemed  it 
an  object  to  have  their  deeds  signed  by  him  as  wel^  as 
by  the  Sachem  of  the  tribe  who  claimed  the  land.  Sev- 
eral of  the  earliest  deeds  in  this  town  are  executed  in 
this  manner.  In  one  of  these  deeds  he  is  called  -the 
Sachem  of  Paumanacke  or  Long-Island. 

When  the  first  settlements  on  the  island  were  made, 
the  Indians  were  at  war  with  the  Narraganset  Indians 
who  obtained  a  victory  over  them,  and  took  the  daugh- 
ter of  Wyandance,  the  Montauk  Sachem,  captive,  who 
was  redeemed  by  the  assistance  of  Lyon  Gardiner,  of 
Gardiner's  Island;  in  gratitude  for  which,  the  chief 
afterwards  presented  him  with  a  deed  for  the  territory 
which  now  forms  the  town  of  Smithtown. 

By  a  tradition  of  the  Indians  in  some  parts  of  the 
Island,  they  had  been  greatly  diminished  by  a  raging 


20 


TOWN  OF  HUNTINGTON,  L.  I. 

pestilence  a  few  years  before  the  arrival  of  the  whites 
among  them.  They  had  also  been  reduced  by  a  war 
with  the  Peguods  of  Connecticut,  by  whom  they  were 
subdued  and  subjected  to  tribute.  All  these  tribes 
have  long  since  disappeared,  and  not  a  solitary  Indian 
remains  in  this  town  to  remind  us  of  the  original  in- 
.  habitants  of  the  country,  nor  are  there  any  monuments 
to  shew  that  the  country  was  ever  before  inhabited, 
except  the  shell  banks  before-mentioned. 

STATE    OF    THE    COUNTRY. 

The  Indians  here,  as  well  as  every  where  else  where 
they  were  settled,  annually  burnt  over  the  woods  in 
order  to  clear  the  land,  and  to  provide  food  for  the 
deer  and  other  game. 

There  are  numerous  facts  to  prove  that  at  the  time 
of  the  first  settlement  of  this  town,  the  woods  were 
destitute  of  under  brush,  and  that  the  large  trees  were 
so  scarce,  that  it  was  deemed  necessary  to  preserve 
them  from  waste,  and  to  prescribe  means  for  their 
preservation. 

The  first  settlers  commenced  their  improvements 
immediately  without  any  previous  clearing:  they  en- 
closed large  tracts  of  land  by  'a  common  fence  for  plant- 
ing, and  also  for  pasturing  such  part  of  their  stock  as 
they  did  not  wish  to  run  at  large. 

By  a  vote  of  town  meeting,  27th  December,  1659, 
they  resolved,  that  if  the  two  half  mile  squares  which 
had  been  set  apart  for  planting  could  not  be  fenced  by 

21 


A  SKETCH  OF 

the  two  ends  of  the  town,  as  was  expected,  then  such 
as  could  agree  together  might  look  out  for  a  tract  fit 
for  corn  elsewhere,  and  fence  and  improve  it  in  the 
best  way  they  could. 

By  a  vote,  i4th  April,  1668,  it  was  concluded  to  en- 
close the  town  plat  for  common  use,  for  certain  por- 
tions of  their  stock  which  they  choose  to  keep  from 
ranging  at  a  distance,  and  every  man  was  enjoined  to 
make  as  much  of  the  fence  as  was  proportionable  to  the 
interest  which  he  was  to  have  in  the  field,  in  a  given 
time,  under  the  penalty  of  five  shillings  for  every  rod 
that  was  not  made  by  that  time. 

The  settlers  at  first  only  took  up  the  open  land,  and 
suffered  the  timbered  land  to  remain  in  common,  and 
subject  to  the  regulations  of  the  town. 

In  March,  1659,  the  inhabitants  by  a  vote  at  town- 
meeting,  resolved  that  no  timber  should  be  cut  for  sale 
within  three  miles  of  the  settlement,  under  the  penalty 
of  five  shillings  for  every  tree.  In  1660,  they  made  an 
exception  of  white  oak  timber,  for  pipe  staves ;  but  in 
December,  1668,  the  constable  and  magistrates,  after 
stating  their  apprehensions  that  the  town  was  in  dan- 
ger of  being  ruined  by  the  destruction  of  its  timber, 
ordered,  that  no  timber  should  be  cut  or  wrought  for 
pipe  staves,  hogshead  staves,  or  barrel  heads,  for 
transportation,  on  the  town  commons,  within  three 
miles  of  the  settlement,  under  the  penalty  of  five  shil- 
lings for  every  tree  so  cut,  or  wrought,  contrary  to  the 
order;  and  also  forbid  the  inhabitants  to  suffer  any 


22 


TOWN  OF  HUNTINGTON,  L.  I. 

stranger  to  cut  any  timber  within  the  limits  of  the 
town,  under  the  like  penalty. 

The  timber  in  the  woods  was  so  thin  and  sparse, 
that  they  abounded  with  feed,  and  the  people  depended 
on  them  for  pasture  for  the  cattle  that  were  not  needed 
for  domestic  purposes. 

The  3oth  May,  1665,  it  was  ordered  by  a  vote  of 
town-meeting,  that  all  the  young  and  dry  cattle  should 
be  driven  to  Horse  Neck  to  pasture,  after  the  second 
day  of  June  ensuing. 

The  1 4th  April,  1667,  by  a  like  vote,  it  was  or- 
dered, that  all  the  dry  and  young  cattle  belonging  to 
the  town,  should  be  driven  to  Crab-Meadow,  or  be- 
yond, to  Sunken  -  Meadow,  to  pasture,  the  first  of 
May. 

It  is  evident,  also,  that  the  Pine  plains  were  bare  of 
brush  at  this  time. 

The  yth  December,  1663,  the  inhabitants,  at  town- 
meeting,  after  complaining  that  great  damage  was 
done  to  the  South-Meadows  by  the  swine  that  found 
their  way  there  from  the  settlement,  Resolved,  that 
the  owners  should  forthwith  fetch  them  away,  and 
keep  them  from  returning,  under  a  penalty  of  ten 
shillings  for  every  one  that  was  suffered  to  remain 
there  two  days,  after  notice  of  their  being  there.  It  is 
not  probable  that  the  swine  would  have  ranged  as  far 
as  the  south  side,  if  the  plains  had  been  covered  with 
brush,  as  they  now  are. 

By  neglecting  the  Indian  practice  of  annual  burn- 


A  SKETCH  OF 

ings,  in  a  few  years  the  young  timber  and  underbrush 
increased  so  as  to  injure  the  feed  in  the  woods. 

In  1667,  the  town  Court  appointed  two  men  to  warn 
the  inhabitants  to  meet,  to  fire  the  woods  at  such  time 
as  they  should  think  fit,  and  ordered,  that  every  one 
so  warned,  should  attend,  under  the  penalty  of  four 
shillings  for  every  day's  neglect. — ist  July,  1668,  it 
was  voted  by  the  town-meeting,  that  every  male  over 
sixteen  years  of  age,  should  assemble,  when  warned 
by  the  men  who  were  appointed  for  that  purpose,  to 
cut  down  brush  or  underwood  when  it  should  be 
thought  a  fit  time  to  destroy  it,  under  the  penalty  of 
five  shillings  a  day  for  neglect. 

The  7th  October,  1672,  the  governor,  by  an  order, 
after  stating  that  the  feed  for  horses  and  cattle  in  the 
woods  on  Long- Island,  had  decayed  by  the  increase  of 
brush  and  underwood ;  directed  the  inhabitants  from 
sixteen  to  sixty,  to  turn  out  four  days  in  every  year, 
under  the  direction  of  the  town  officers,  to  cut  out  the 
brush  and  underwood,  under  the  penalty  of  five  shil- 
lings for  every  day's  neglect. 

MODE    OF    OBTAINING    LAND. 

The  first  settlers  purchased  their  lands  of  the  natives 
who  claimed  them ;  the  consideration  given  for  them, 
was  very  inconsiderable,  and  usually  consisted  of  blan- 
kets, clothing,  fishing  implements,  and  sometimes  of 
guns  and  ammunition;  but,  in  all  cases  was  such  as 
they  deemed  an  equivalent,  and  with  which  they  were 
satisfied.  The  settlers  at  first  only  took  up  a  house-lot 

24 


TOWN  OF  HUNTINGTON,  L.  I. 

in  the  village,  and  this  is  supposed  to  be  all  the  land 
taken  up,  before  the  first  Patent. 

Immediately  after  the  conquest  of  New- York,  in 
1664,  the  English  governor  ordered  that  the  purchasers 
of  Indian  lands,  should  take  out  letters  patent  for  the 
confirmation  of  the  purchases,  and  forbid  any  further 
purchases  to  be  made  of  the  natives  without  a  license 
from  the  government. 

In  1666,  the  inhabitants  of  Huntington  obtained  a 
patent,  by  which  the  whole  territory  between  Cold 
Spring  and  Nissaquage  river,  and  between  the  Sound 
and  the  Sea  was  erected  into  a  Town,  with  town  priv- 
ileges: the  purchases  made  of  the  Indians  by  the 
inhabitants  were  confirmed,  but  the  patent  gave  no 
power  to  the  inhabitants  to  purchase  the  lands  which 
were  still  held  by  the  Indians  within  the  limits  of  the 
Town. 

INTEREST    OF    PROPRIETORS. 

The  expense  of  the  patent  was  defrayed  by  a  volun- 
tary contribution  .of  all  the  inhabitants,  and  the  inter- 
est of  each  in  the  vacant  land  was  determined  to  be  in 
proportion  to  his  contribution — a  given  sum  constituted 
one  right,  the  half  of  that  sum  half  a  right,  and  double 
the  said  sum  two  rights,  and  there  were  as  many 
rights  as  the  said  sum  was  contained  in  the  amount 
that  was  paid  for  the  patent — the  rights  were  called 
hundreds  or  hundred  pound  rights. 

It  is  not  now  known  how  many  rights  were  under 
the  first  patent,  nor  what  was  the  expense  of  obtain- 

25 


A  SKETCH  OF 

ing  it.     In    1671,  there  were  90  rights  in  the  whole 
Town,  in  1688,  they  were  reduced  to  34,  and  in  1689 
to  70. 

It  is  probable  that  this  reduction  took  place  by  the 
removal  of  some  of  the  proprietors  to  other  places,  and 
that  on  such  removal  they  abandoned  their  rights  to 
the  lands  not  taken  up,  or  that  their  rights  in  the  same 
were  deemed  to  be  forfeited,  and  to  devolve  on  those 
who  remained  in  the  Town. 

In  1688,  the  people  of  Huntington  obtained  another 
patent,  bounded  in  the  same  manner  as  the  former 
one,  which  after  confirming  their  titles  to  the  lands 
which  had  already  been  purchased,  granted  all  the  re- 
mainder of  the  lands  within  the  limits  of  the  patent, 
(except  the  necks  on  the  south  side,  and  the  land  to 
the  north  of  them,)  absolutely  to  the  inhabitants  ac- 
cording to  their  rights  or  shares  in  the  original  pur- 
chases, and  also  incorporated  the  Town.  The  expense 
of  this  patent  was  levied  on  the  proprietors  according 
to  their  rights  in  the  first  patent,  and  their  interests 
under  this  patent  remained  the  same  as  before. 

In  1694,  they  took  out  their  present  patent,  by  which 
the  eastern  limit  of  the  Town  was  altered,  their  former 
purchases  confirmed,  and  the  right  of  pre-emption  to 
all  the  lands  within  the  limits  of  the  patent  not  then 
purchased  of  the  Indians  was  secured  to  them,  and  the 
incorporation  of  the  Town  was  renewed. 

The  expense  of  this  patent  amounted  to  £56. 18.3, 
of  which  sum  ^50  was  paid  to  the  governor  and  public 

26 


TOWN  OF  HUNTING! ON,  L.  I. 

officers;  the  whole  sum  raised  was  £63.14.10,  which 
was  raised  by  a  voluntary  contribution  of  all  the  inhab- 
itants, and  all  who  contributed  became  interested  in 
the  lands  that  were  not  then  taken  up  or  appropriated ; 
in  proportion  to  their  respective  contributions — a  right 
was  estimated  at  7*.  9^.,  which  made  164  1-2  rights  or 
hundreds  in  the  whole  Town. 

DIVISION    OF    THE    LANDS. 

A  division  of  the  land  was  made  among  the  proprie- 
tors when  a  majority  of  them  agreed  to  it — previous  to 
every  division,  they  determined  what  number  of  acres 
should  be  allotted  to  a  right.  Two  surveyors  were  an- 
nually chosen  to  make  the  division,  who  laid  out  the 
land  to  the  several  proprietors  according  to  their  allot- 
ments, and  new  divisions  were  made  from  time  to 
time,  until  all  the  lands  of  any  value  were  taken  up. 

The  number  of  rights  have  been  reduced  under  the 
present  patent  in  the  same  manner  as  under  the  first. 
In  1731,  they  were  reduced  to  137,  and  probably  do 
not  now  amount  to  100. 

In  a  few  instances  the  proprietors  gave  certain 
tracts  of  land  to  such  persons  as  were  willing  to  pur- 
chase them  of  the  natives ;  this  appears  to  have  been 
the  case  with  regard  to  the  Baiting  place  and  10  Square- 
pit  purchases,  and  also  with  regard  to  the  purchases  of 
the  upland  of  some  or  all  the  necks  on  the  south  side. 

In  two  cases,  that  of  the  Half-way  hollow  hill,  and 
of  the  Yorkers  purchase,  they  sold  their  right  of  pre- 
emption to  the  purchasers. 

27 


A  SKETCH  OF 
OF    TRADE. 

For  some  time  after  the  first  settlement  of  the  town, 
the  surplus  produce  of  the  settlers,  as  is  the  case  in  all 
new  settlements,  was  needed  by  the  new  comers — dur- 
ing this  period  they  had  little  or  no  trade,  but  among 
themselves,  and  money  was  very  scarce ;  contracts  were 
made  in  produce,  and  business  was  carried  on  by  bar- 
ter and  exchanges — contracts  for  the  sale  of  land,  as 
well  as  others,  were  made  payable  in  produce. 

In  the  draft  or  copy  of  a  contract,  between  the  town 
and  a  schoolmaster,  dated  in  1657,  for  three  years,  at 
the  rate  of  £25  for  the  first  year,  £35  for  the  second, 
and  £40  for  the  third ;  the  salary  is  stipulated  to  be 
paid  in  produce,  at  fixed  prices. 

In  1686,  the  town  contracted  with  a  carpenter  to 
make  an  addition  to  the  meeting-house,  to  be  paid  in 
produce,  at  certain  rates. 

In  1674,  the  town  erected  a  mill  at  Cowharbour,  and 
it  is  presumed,  from  circumstances,  that  the  wages  of 
the  carpenter  were  also  paid  in  produce. 

In  1682,  a  farm  was  sold  for  £  go,  payable  in  nine 
annual  instalments,  in  produce,  at  stipulated  prices. 

Debts  were  discharged,  executions  satisfied,  and 
rates  paid  with  produce — the  rate  at  which  produce 
was  taken  in  payment  of  debts,  was  the  price  which 
the  merchants  gave  for  the  like  articles  at  the  time — 
produce  was  taken  on  execution,  on  judgments  of  the 
town  Court,  by  the  same  rule,  when  left  to  the  discre- 
tion of  the  constable. 

28 


TOWN  OF  HUNTINGTON,  L.  /. 

The  Court  sometimes  designated  the  articles  by 
which  the  judgment  should  be  satisfied,  and  also  fixed 
the  prices  at  which  they  should  be  taken. 

5th  March,  1665,  the  Court  gave  judgment  that  the 
defendant  should  pay  the  debt  in  wheat,  or  peas,  at 
merchant's  prices,  viz:  wheat  at  4.?.  6d.  per  bushel,  and 
peas  at  $s.  6d.  per  bushel ; — in  these  cases,  it  is  con- 
jectured that  the  Court  only  enforced  the  contract  of 
the  parties. 

Sometimes  the  Court  ordered  the  debt  to  be  paid  in 
produce,  at  the  current  price. 

28th  January,  1679,  tne  Court  gave  judgment  that 
the  defendant  should  pay  the  debt  "  in  good  merchant- 
able pay,  at  the  current  price. ' ' 

But  generally  the  Court  merely  gave  judgment  for 
the  debt,  and  left  it  to  the  constable  to  collect  it,  ac- 
cording to  the  usage  at  the  time,  which  was  in  salable 
articles,  at  their  current  price. 

2 ad  September,  1680,  the  Court  gave  judgment  for 
the  debt,  and  the  constable  sold  a  house  and  lot,  being 
what  had  then  been  allotted  to  two  rights,  on  execu- 
tion, at  public  auction,  for  £10  10.?.,  "to  be  paid  in 
merchantable  pay,  at  market  prices." 

Executions  issuing  out  of  the  Court  of  Sessions  were 
also  levied  in  produce,  but  it  was  appraised  by  indiffer- 
ent men,  chosen  by  the  parties,  or  appointed  by  the 
sheriff,  when  it  was  delivered  to  the  plaintiff  in  satis- 
faction of  his  judgment. 

The  prices  of  produce  receivable  for  county  rates, 


29 


A  SKETCH  OF 

were  fixed  by  the  governor  and  the  Court  of  Sessions, 
and  by  the  Court  communicated  to  the  several  towns 
in  the  county. 

PRICES   OF    PRODUCE. 

In  1665,  the  assessors  were  ordered  by  law,  to  esti- 
mate stock  at  the  following  rates : 

A  horse  or  mare  4  years  old,  and  upwards,  £12  oo  o 

Do.     between  3  and  4  -  8  oo  o 

Do.         do         2  and  3                                   -  4  oo  o 

Do.         do         i  and  2    -  3  oo  o 

An  ox  or  bull  4  years  old  and  upwards,       -  6  oo  o 

A  cow,  4  years  old  and  upwards,  5  oo  o 

A  steer  or  heifer  between  3  and  4  -       -       -  4  oo  o 

Do.                     do           2  and  3      -       -  2   10  o 

Do.                    do           i  and  2  -       -       -  i   10  o 

A  goat,     i  year  old,  080 

A  sheep,         Do.            068 

A  swine,         Do.  i  oo  o 

In  1679,  the  prices  fixed  by  the  governor,  at  which 
produce  should  be  received  for  county  rates,  were  as 
follows : 

Pork,       ....  £o     o  3  per  Ib. 

Beef, 002     Do. 

Winter  wheat,     -       -  040  per  bushel. 

Summer  wheat,      -  -036    -Do. 

Rye,  026     Do. 

Indian  corn,     -       -  -023     Do. 

Oil,  i   10  o  per  barrel. 

In  1637,  the  prices  of  produce  receivable  for  taxes 
were,  as  follows : 

3° 


TOWN  OF  HUNTINGTON,  L.  I. 

Pork,       ....  ^3  10  o  per  barrel. 

Beef, 2000         Do. 

Wheat,    -      ...  050  per  bushel. 

Indian  corn,     -       -  -026         Do. 

Tallow,  -       -       -       -  o  oo  6  per  Ib. 

Dry  hides,         -       -  -     o  oo  4     Do. 

Green  hides,  o  oo  2     Do. 

Contract  prices  of  various  articles,  from  1665  to  1687. 

Pork,       -  ^"3  10  o  per  barrel,  or  ^d.  per  Ib. 

Beef,    -  -     i   10  o         Do.         or  2d.     do. 

Butter,    -         o  oo  6  per  Ib. 

Tallow,  -     o  oo  6     Do. 

Hog's  fat,       o  oo  6     Do. 

Wheat,  from  040  per  bushel,  to  $s. 

Rye,  036        Do. 

Corn,    -  -026        Do. 

Oats,       -         020        Do. 

Board,  -050  per  week. 

Victuals,          006  per  meal. 

Lodging,  -002  per  night. 

Beer,       -         002  per  mug. 

Pasture,  -     o     i  o  for  a  day  and  night. 

Labor,    -         026  per  day. 

OF    THE    CHARACTER    OF    THE    FIRST    SETTLERS. 

The  first  settlers  of  Huntington  came  either  from 
the  New  England  colonies,  or  directly  from  England, 
and  probably  some  from  the  one  and  some  from  the 
other.  They  were  probably  English  independents, 
and  partook  of  the  spirit  and  temper  which  at  that 
time  characterized  that  class  of  men  in  England. 

They  adopted  every  precaution  in  their  power  for 

31 


A  SKETCH  OF 

the  preservation  of  good  morals  and  good  order  in 
their  settlement. 

ADMISSION    OF    SETTLERS. 

6th  July,  1662,  the  people  by  a  vote  at  Town-meet- 
ing, appointed  a  Committee  consisting  of  their  minister 
and  six  of  their  most  respectable  inhabitants,  to  ex- 
amine the  characters  of  such  as  came  to  settle  among 
them,  with  power  to  admit  or  refuse  admission  to  them, 
as  they  judged  they  would  be  likely  to  benefit  or  in- 
jure the  society,  with  a  proviso  that  they  should  not 
exclude  any  "  that  were  honest  and  well  approved  of 
by  honest  and  judicious  men,"  and  forbid  any  inhab- 
itant to  sell  or  let  house  or  land  to  any  one  but  such 
as  should  be  approved  of  by  said  Committee,  under 
the  penalty  of  £10  to  be  paid  to  the  Town. 

loth  February,  1663,  by  vote  of  Town-meeting,  they 
ordered  a  certain  house  and  lot  to  be  seized  by  an 
attachment  for  a  breach  of  the  aforesaid  order. 

1 9th  February,  1663,  by  a  vote  of  Town-meeting, 
they  forbid  any  inhabitant  to  entertain  a  certain  obnox- 
ious individual  longer  than  the  space  of  a  week  either 
gratuitously  or  for  pay,  under  the  penalty  of  40^  for 
the  breach  of  the  order  ' '  made  (as  they  state)  for  the 
peace  of  the  Town. ' ' 

2d  January,  1682,  the  Town  Court  ordered  the  estate 
of  a  certain  person  who  was  likely  to  spend  it  by  his 
extravagance  and  intemperance,  to  be  seized  by  attach- 
ment, that  it  might  be  "  secured,  preserved,  and  im- 

32 


TOWN  OF  HUNTINGTON,  L.  I. 

proved  for  his  livelihood  and  maintenance,  and  that 
the  Town  might  not  be  damnified. ' ' 

2pth  June,  1682,  the  Town  Court  ordered  that  an 
inhabitant  who  on  complaint  was  convicted  of  bring- 
ing a  bag  of  meal  from  Oysterbay  to  Huntington  on 
the  Sabbath,  should  pay  a  fine  of  20^  or  make  an 
acknowledgment  for  the  offence,  such  as  the  Court 
would  accept. 

3d  June,  1683,  the  Court  required  a  written  acknowl- 
edgment such  as  they  prescribed,  of  three  men  who 
were  convicted  of  having  travelled  from  Huntington 
to  Hempstead  on  the  Sabbath,  the  preceding  winter. 

1 8th  October,  1660,  they  established  a  house  of  enter- 
tainment, and  to  insure  good  order,  made  the  continu- 
ance of  the  keeper  to  depend  on  the  correctness  with 
which  he  discharged  the  trust. 

In  1657,  it  would  seem  they  established  a  school,  to 
be  continued  for  three  years  under  the  same  teacher. 

MINISTRY. 

They  had  a  minister  settled  among  them  at  a  very 
early  period  of  the  settlement,  if  not  from  its  origin. 

William  Leveredge  was  a  settled  minister  in  the 
Town  in  1659,  and  had  been  there  some  time  before, 
but  how  long  is  not  known. 

February  loth,  1662,  the  people  by  a  vote  of  Town- 
meeting,  appointed  two  men  to  purchase  a  house  and 
land  for  a  parsonage,  and  by  a  similar  vote  the  ;th 
June,  following,  they  granted  to  Mr.  Leveredge  the 

33 


A  SKETCH  OF 

use  of  all  the  meadow  about  Cow- Harbour  on  both 
sides  of  the  creek,  as  long  as  he  should  continue  the 
minister  of  Hunting-ton.  They  also  made  a  vote  to 
raise  his  salary  for  a  number  of  years  in  succession,  but 
it  does  not  appear  what  the  amount  of  it  was. 

Mr.  Leveredge  continued  in  Huntington  until  some 
time  between  1670  and  1673,  when  he  left  the  Town, 
but  for  what  cause  is  not  stated. 

In  April,  1673,  the  people  by  a  vote  at  Town-meet- 
ing, authorized  the  magistrates,  with  certain  others 
named  for  that  purpose,  to  use  their  endeavours  to  pro- 
cure a  minister  for  the  Town. 

In  January,  1676,  by  a  similar  vote,  they  agreed  to 
give  Eliphalet  Jones  an  invitation  to  continue  with 
them  as  minister,  and  at  the  same  Town-meeting  voted 
to  give  him  twenty  acres  of  land  where  he  chose  to 
take  it  up. 

Mr.  Jones  did  not  give  them  a  definitive  answer 
until  June  loth,  1677,  nor  until  after  the  question 
whether  they  desired  his  continuance  with  them  as 
their  minister,  had  at  his  request,  again  been  put  to 
the  people  assembled  at  a  public  training,  and  was 
answered  in  the  affirmative  by  all  but  one  who  were 
present.  In  1684,  it  appears  that  the  salary  of  Mr. 
Jones  was  £50  a  year. 

Mr.  Jones  continued  the  sole  minister  of  Huntington 
until  June  5th,  1723,  when  on  account  of  his  age  and  in- 
firmities, Ebenezer  Prime  was  ordained  and  settled  as 
a  colleague  with  him.  Mr.  Jones  gave  the  charge  to 


34 


TOWN  OF  HUNTINGTON,  L.  I. 

Mr.  Prime  at  his  ordination,  with  which  he  was  so 
much  pleased,  that  he  transcribed  it  into  the  records 
of  the  church,  and  this  is  the  only  authentic  produc- 
tion of  Mr.  Jones  that  is  known. — There  is  a  paper 
containing  the  outlines  of  a  discourse  among  the  Town 
records  which  is  supposed  to  be  his  from  the  date  it 
bears,  but  that  is  the  only  evidence  of  it. — Mr.  Jones 
lived  some  years  after  this  period,  but  it  is  not  known 
how  long.  After  the  death  of  Mr.  Jones,  Mr.  Prime 
continued  alone  the  minister  of  Huntington  until  Octo- 
ber soth,  1766,  when  to  lighten  his  labours  John  Close 
was  ordained  and  settled  as  a  colleague  with  him.  Mr. 
Close  continued  in  that  capacity  until  the  fall  of  1773, 
when  he  obtained  his  discharge  and  left  the  town,  for 
what  cause  does  not  appear  from  the  records.  Mr. 
Prime  after  this  continued  without  a  colleague  until 
his  death  in  September,  1779 — his  salary  was  £70  per 
year,  and  his  fire-wood. 

In  1672,  the  people  contracted  with  the  drummer  of 
the  military  company,  to  beat  the  drum  on  the  Sab- 
bath, to  give  notice  of  the  time  to  assemble  for  public 
worship ;  and  this  practice  probably  continued  till  they 
procured  a  bell,  for  which  he  received  ten  shillings  a 
year  from  the  Town. 

There  were  forty-three  members  belonging  to  the 
Church  at  Huntington  in  1723,  when  Mr.  Prime  was 
ordained,  and  the  number  was  very  considerably  in- 
creased during  his  time. 

The  constitution  of  the  Church  at  Huntington  was 


35 


A  SKETCH  OF 

originally  congregational,  as  was  that  of  all  the 
Churches  in  the  country.  In  1748,  the  people  of  Hunt- 
ington  were  prevailed  on  to  exchange  the  congrega- 
tional form  of  government  for  that  of  the  Presbyterian, 
which  had  been  recommended  by  some  of  the  minis- 
ters, and  had  been  adopted  through  their  influence  the 
year  before,  by  several  of  the  congregations  in  the 
eastern  part  of  the  country. 

MEETING-HOUSE. 

The  first  meeting-house  in  Huntington  was  built  in 
1665,  an  addition  of  fifteen  feet  was  made  to  it  in  1686. 
The  second  meeting-house  was  built  in  1715 — it  was 
raised  near  where  the  first  was  erected,  but  in  order 
to  compromise  a  difference  between  the  inhabitants  of 
the  east  and  west  parts  of  the  Town,  relative  to  the 
proper  position  of  the  house,  it  was  taken  down  and 
erected  on  the  hill  east  of  the  valley  where  the  old  one 
stood.  This  house  continued  till  the  revolutionary 
war.  The  British  troops  stationed  in  Huntington  dur- 
ing the  winter  of  1777,  took  possession  of  it — carried 
the  bell  aboard  one  of  their  ships,  which  was  after- 
wards returned  so  much  injured,  that  it  was  necessary 
to  have  it  cast  anew — surrounded  the  house  with  an 
intrenchment — tore  up  the  seats  and  made  a  store- 
house of  it.  It  remained  in  this  condition  until  the 
fall  of  1782,  when  it  was  torn  down  by  order  of  Col- 
onel Thompson,  who  commanded  the  troops  then  sta- 
tioned in  the  Town,  and  the  materials  were  employed 
in  erecting  the  barracks  in  the  fort  on  the  burying  hill. 

36 


TOWN  OF  HUNTINGTON,  L.  I. 

An  Episcopal  Church  was  erected  in  Huntington  be- 
tween the  years  1750  and  1760.  Mr.  James  Greaton  is 
the  only  minister  that  was  ever  settled  in  that  church. 
He  came  to  Huntingdon  in  the  fall  of  1767,  and  con- 
tinued till  his  death  in  the  year  1773,  after  which  the 
church  was  occasionally  supplied  by  other  ministers.  A 
Presbyterian  meeting-house  was  erected  between 
Crab  Meadow  and  Fresh  Pond,  in  the  eastern  part  of 
the  town  shortly  before  the  revolutionary  war,  and 
was  supplied  a  part  of  the  time  by  Mr.  Hart,  the  minis- 
ter of  Smithtown. 

MILLS. 

The  first  grist  mill  in  Huntington  was  built  in  1660, 
on  the  stream  running  into  the  harbour,  by  Mr.  Lever- 
edge,  the  first  minister  of  the  town. 

A  mill  was  erected  by  the  town  on  the  small  stream 
at  Cowharbour  in  1674,  which  was  sold  to  Jeremiah 
Smith  in  1677,  on  certain  conditions,  one  of  which 
was,  that  he  should  not  exact  more  than  one  quart  in 
sixteen  for  toll  for  grinding  wheat,  nor  more  than  one 
in  twelve  for  grinding  Indian  corn. 

The  privilege  of  erecting  a  mill  on  the  stream  at 
Cold  Spring,  was  granted  to  John  Adams,  April  ist, 
1682.  The  grant  for  a  mill  on  Huntington  harbour 
was  made  to  Zophar  Patt,11  April  loth,  1752;  and  the 
grant  for  a  mill  on  Cowharbour  was  made  to  Sylvanus 
Townsend,  January  i4th,  1774. 

It  is  a  condition  in  all  these  grants  for  mills,  that  the 

37 


OO 


A  SKETCH  OF 

grantees,  their  heirs,  or  assigns,  shall  grind  for  the 
people  of  the  town  for  a  fixed  toll. 

In  1686,  the  town  surveyors  were  directed  to  lay 
out  all  the  ponds  or  places  of  water  conveniently  situ- 
ated for  that  purpose,  for  public  watering  places. 

OF    THE    POLITICAL    STATE    OF    THE    TOWN    AT    DIFFERENT 
PERIODS. 

Long- Island  was  claimed  both  by  the  English  and 
the  Dutch;  Kings  and  Queen's  counties  were  settled 
under  the  Dutch;  Suffolk  county  was  settled  under 
the  English,  and  in  defiance  of  the  Dutch  claim. 

The  several  towns  in  Suffolk  county  were  settled  by 
emigrants  from  England,  and  the  eastern  colonies 
without  any  concert  with  each  other — they  were  not 
united  by  any  political  bond  of  union,  but  each  was 
independent  of  the  other,  nor  were  they  under  the 
protection  or  government  of  any  colony. 

In  this  situation,  being  too  remote  from  the  mother 
country  to  derive  any  aid  from  there,  and  without  con- 
nections here,  the  whole  powers  of  government  de- 
volved on  the  inhabitants  of  each  town.  Self-preserva- 
tion rendered  it  absolutely  necessary  that  they  should 
assume  the  exercise  of  these  powers,  until  a  change 
in  their  situation  should  supersede  the  necessity  of 
their  exercise. 

AT    FIRST    A    PURE    DEMOCRACY. 

Thus,  each  town  from  its  first  settlement  to  the  con- 
quest of  New  York  in  1664,  was  a  pure  democracy. 

38 


TOWN  OF  HUNTINGTON,  L.  I. 

The  people  in  each  exercised  the  sovereign  power;  all 
questions  were  determined  by  the  vote  of  the  major- 
part  of  the  people  assembled  in  town  meeting.  In  this 
manner  they  formed  such  laws  and  regulations  as  they 
judged  necessary  for  the  security,  peace,  and  prosperity 
of  their  infant  settlements. 

The  town  of  Huntington  was  a  frontier  settlement, 
and  was  regarded  by  the  Dutch  as  an  encroachment 
on  their  territory.  The  colonists  took  sides  with  their 
mother  countries  in  the  disputes  relative  to  their 
respective  claims  to  the  Island. 

MEASURES    FOR    PUBLIC    SECURITY. 

The  people  of  Huntington  were  obliged  to  take 
measures  for  their  own  security.  In  order  to  maintain 
their  settlement  from  which  they  had  formerly  been 
forced  to  remove,  they  took  the  precaution  of  provid- 
ing arms,  and  erecting  a  fort  as  before-mentioned, 
both  against  the  attacks  of  the  Dutch  and  the 
Indians. 

The  Dutch  to  check  the  encroachment  of  the  En- 
glish, erected  a  fort  in  Oysterbay. 

These  two  towns  continued  to  be  the  limits  of  the 
respective  claimants  until  the  whole  fell  under  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  English  in  1664. 

The  people  of  Huntington  at  the  same  time  con- 
trived measures  for  the  preservation  of  internal  order 
as  well  as  external  security. 


39 


A  SKETCH  OF 

ADMINISTRATION    OF    JUSTICE. 

To  secure  the  administration  of  justice,  and  to  pre- 
vent and  punish  crimes,  they  instituted  a  court  which 
was  called  the  town  court,  composed  of  three  magis- 
trates, a  constable,  and  clerk,  to  be  chosen  annually 
at  town  meeting.  They  invested  this  court  with 
power  to  hear  and  determine  all  causes  civil  and  crim- 
inal. The  parties  were  entitled  to  a  jury  if  either  of 
them  requested  it:  the  jury  consisted  of  seven  men, 
and  the  verdict  was  decided  by  a  majority. 

It  seems  that  the  parties  rarely  resorted  to  a  jury, 
as  by  far  the  greatest  number  of  decisions  are  made 
by  the  court  without  a  jury. 

The  judgments  of  this  court  extend  from  a  few  shil- 
lings to  fifty  pounds  and  upwards,  and  affected  lands 
as  well  as  goods  and  chattels. 

In  cases  of  slander,  the  judgments,  when  in  favor 
of  the  plaintiff,  are  generally  in  the  alternative,  that 
the  defendant  make  verbal  satisfaction  to  the  plaintiff 
in  open  court,  or  pay  him  a  certain  sum  of  money. 
In  one  case  for  gross  slander  and  abuse,  they  adjudged 
the  defendant  to  the  stocks,  which  is  the  only  instance 
of  corporal  punishment  mentioned  in  the  records  of 
the  court. 

It  is  a  remarkable  fact  and  a  decisive  proof  of  the 
purity  of  the  morals  of  the  people,  that  from  the  first 
settlement  of  the  town  to  the  year  1664,  it  does  not 
appear  that  a  single  criminal  case  came  before  the 
court ;  slander  and  trespass  are  the  most  aggravated 

40 


TO  WN  OF  HUNTINGTON,  L.  I. 

offence  contained  in  the  records.  The  proceedings  of 
the  court  were  governed  by  the  principles  of  the  com- 
mon law,  and  the  acts  of  the  town-meeting. 

The  decisions  of  the  court  were  conclusive,  and  it  is 
to  the  honour  of  the  magistrates  who  presided  in  it, 
that  notwithstanding  the  extent  of  their  powers,  they 
seem  to  have  exercised  them  with  great  fidelity,  pru- 
dence, and  moderation. 

The  officers  of  this  court  frequently  made  orders 
relative  to  matters  which  concerned  the  welfare  of  the 
town;  which  seem  to  have  had  the  same  force  and 
effect  as  the  resolutions  of  the  town  meeting,  from 
which  it  is  presumed  that  they  were  invested  with 
power  for  this  purpose  by  the  voice  of  the  people. 

The  amount  of  taxes  to  be  raised  for  public  purposes, 
was  fixed  by  a  vote  of  the  town-meeting ;  and  the  rates 
were  made  and  gathered  by  persons  chosen  for  that 
purpose. 

Under  the  benign  influence  of  the  common  law,  and 
of  regulations  made  by  themselves  at  town  meeting, 
and  enforced  by  a  court  thus  constituted,  the  people 
seem  to  have  enjoyed  the  usual  benefit  of  good  gov- 
ernment, and  to  have  prospered  as  well  as  those  set- 
tlements that  were  under  the  protection  of  an  organ- 
ized government. 

The  danger  to  which  the  people  of  Huntington  were 
exposed  by  their  situation,  induced  them  to  seek  for 
protection  in  a  connection  with  some  organized 
colony. 


A  SKETCH  OF 

NEGOTIATIONS    WITH    CONNECTICUT. 

In  1658,  they  choose  two  men  to  visit  New-Haven  for 
this  purpose,  but  it  does  not  appear  that  they  effected 
their  object. 

In  1660,  they  voted  to  put  themselves  under  the 
jurisdiction  of  Connecticut.  In  1662,  they  choose  two 
deputies  to  attend  the  next  general  court  of  election, 
to  be  held  at  Hartford,  in  May,  1663,  and  as  a  similar 
application  was  made  by  the  eastern  towns  about  the 
same  time,  it  is  probable  that  they  all  agreed  to  be- 
come a  part  of  the  colony  of  Connecticut,  and  subject 
to  its  government. 

A  clause  in  the  charter  of  Connecticut  annexing  the 
islands  adjacent  to  it,  to  that  colony,  afforded  a  pretext 
for  their  claiming  Long-Island.  Accordingly  the  as- 
sembly at  Hartford,  May  i2th,  1664,  formally  resolved, 
that  Long-Island  belonged  to  the  jurisdiction  of  Con- 
necticut by  the  terms  of  the  charter,  and  appointed  the 
governor  and  two  others  to  go  to  the  island  to  settle 
the  English  plantations  there,  under  the  government 
of  Connecticut;  to  establish  quarter-courts,  and  other 
courts  for  the  administration  of  justice,  provided  their 
judgments  should  not  extend  to  life,  limb,  or  banish- 
ment, and  directed  capital  cases  to  be  tried  at  Fair- 
field,  or  Hartford. 

These  commissioners  met  at  Setauket  in  the  summer 
of  1664,  made  some  decisions  on  disputed  claims,  and 
took  some  steps  towards  the  objects  of  their  appoint- 
ment ;  but  these  arrangements  were  all  frustrated  be- 

42 


TOWN  OF  HUNTINGTON,  L.  I, 

fore  they  could  be  carried  into  effect,  by  the  conquest 
of  the  Dutch  settlements  by  the  English  shortly  after 
they  were  made. 

Long-Island  was  comprised  in  the  territory  which 
had  been  conveyed  by  King  Charles  the  second,  to  his 
brother  James,  the  Duke  of  York,  the  i2th  March, 
1664,  and  he  would  not  suffer  any  section  of  country 
to  be  detached  from  it,  by  any  agreement  between  the 
inhabitants  and  any  other  colony. 

THE    CONQUEST    OF    NEW-YORK. 

In  September,  1664,  New- York,  then  called  New- 
Amsterdam,  was  taken  by  the  British,  and  the  town  of 
Huntington  and  the  county  of  Suffolk,  were  incorpo- 
rated with  the  province  of  New-York,  and  became  sub- 
ject to  the  government  of  the  Duke  of  York. 

The  people  of  the  several  towns  in  Suffolk  county, 
rejoiced  at  the  conquest,  and  anticipated  great  benefits 
from  an  organized  British  government ;  they  flattered 
themselves  that  they  should  be  admitted  to  the  com- 
mon privilege  of  British  subjects,  of  participating  in 
the  formation  of  the  laws,  by  which  they  were  to  be 
governed ;  but  it  was  not  long  before  they  discovered 
that  they  had  been  too  sanguine  in  their  expectations. 

Richard  Nicoll,  the  deputy  governor  under  the  Duke 
of  York,  shortly  after  he  took  possession  of  New-York, 
convened  a  meeting  at  Hempstead,  composed  of  two 
deputies  from  every  town  on  the  island,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  adjusting  disputed  boundaries,  and  settling  the 
limits  of  the  several  towns. 

43 


A  SKETCH  OF 

THE    DUKE'S    GOVERNMENT.12 

At  this  meeting  the  governor  promulgated  a  code 
of  laws  which  he  caused  to  be  framed  for  the  govern- 
ment of  the  province ;  which,  with  the  alterations  and 
additions  made  to  them  from  time  to  time,  continued 
to  be  the  laws  of  the  province,  until  October  1683, 
when  the  first  colony  legislature  met,  and  the  people 
were  admitted  to  a  share  in  the  legislative  power. 

These  laws  which  are  called  the  Duke's  laws  author- 
ize the  several  towns  to  elect  a  constable  and  eight 
overseers,  who  were  the  assessors  of  the  town,  and  with 
the  constable  were  empowered  to  make  regulations 
respecting  matters  that  concerned  the  welfare  of  the 
town. 

The  courts  established  by  these  laws,  were  the  town- 
court,  the  court  of  sessions,  and  the  court  of  assize. 

The  town-court  was  composed  of  the  constable  and 
two  overseers,  and  had  cognizance  of  all  causes  under 
five  pounds;  the  justice  of  the  peace  was  authorized 
but  not  required  to  preside  in  this  court. 

The  court  of  sessions  was  composed  of  the  justices 
of  the  peace  of  the  county,  each  of  whom  was  allowed 
j£2o  a  year,  and  had  jurisdiction  of  all  criminal  causes, 
and  of  civil  causes  over  £5.  The  judgments  of  this 
court  for  sums  under  £20  were  final;  but  from  such 
that  were  for  more  than  that  sum,  the  parties  might 
appeal  to  the  court  of  assize.  Causes  were  tried  in 
this  court  by  a  jury  of  seven  men,  in  civil  cases,  and 
in  criminal  cases  not  capital,  and  the  verdict  was  deter- 

44 


TOWN  OF  HUNTINGTON,  L.  I. 

mined  by  the  voice  of  the  majority;  but  in  capital 
cases  the  jury  consisted  of  twelve  men,  and  they  were 
required  to  be  unanimous. 

The  court  of  assize  was  composed  of  the  governor, 
and  such  magistrates  as  he  chose  to  call  to  his  assist- 
ance by  warrant;  suits  for  demands  exceeding  £20 
might  be  commenced  in  this  court;  so  that  it  had 
original  as  well  as  appellate  jurisdiction,  and  was  a 
court  of  equity  as  well  as  common  law. 

TYRANNY    OF    THE    DUKE'S    GOVERNMENT. 

The  Duke's  laws  made  no  provision  for  a  general 
assembly,  nor  did  they  give  the  people  any  voice  in 
the  government.  The  governor  possessed  unlimited 
powers,  he  was  commander-in-chief ;  all  public  officers 
were  appointed  by  him,  and  held  their  offices  during 
his  pleasure ;  he  retained  the  exclusive  power  of  legis- 
lation; could  make  what  laws  he  pleased,  and  alter  or 
repeal  them  when  he  pleased ;  he  presided  in  the  court 
of  assize,  which  by  appeal  had  the  control  of  all  in- 
ferior tribunals.  The  judgments  and  decrees  of  this 
court  were  in  fact  those  of  the  governor ;  his  assistants 
not  being  colleagues,  but  merely  advisers. 

In  this  court  the  governor  united  the  character  of 
both  legislator  and  judge;  he  not  only  pronounced 
what  the  law  was,  but  prescribed  what  it  should  be. 
All  laws  subsequent  to  the  code  first  promulgated  are 
stated  in  the  preface  to  be  made  at  the  court  of  assize ; 
and  many  of  them  were  partial  and  arbitrary,  as  will 

45 


A  SKETCH  OF 

always  be  the  case  where  the  people  have  no  voice  in 
legislation. 

By  an  act  made  at  this  court,  October  8th,  1670,  a 
levy  or  contribution  was  ordered  to  be  made  in  the 
several  towns  on  the  island,  to  repair  the  fort  at  New- 
York.  This  the  people  of  Huntington  refused  to  obey, 
and  assigned  this  among  other  reasons  for  their  refusal : 
' '  because  they  were  deprived  of  the  liberties  of  En- 
glishmen ;  "  intimating  that  they  deemed  it  a  violation 
of  their  constitutional  rights,  that  their  money  should 
be  taken  from  them  without  their  consent. 

Charles  the  second,  to  extend  his  territories  in 
America  by  emigration,  had  declared  by  proclamation, 
that  the  purchases  fairly  made  of  the  natives  should  be 
a  valid  title.  The  towns  of  South- Hampton,  South- 
Old,  and  Oysterbay,  relying  on  the  force  of  this  proc- 
lamation, declined  taking  out  patents  for  the  confir- 
mation of  their  purchases  of  the  Indians  in  compliance 
with  the  governor's  order  of  1665,  which  had  a  retro- 
spective operation  in  this  respect. 

By  an  act  made  at  the  court  of  assize,  October  8th, 
1670,  the  titles  to  land  in  these  towns  were  declared  to 
be  invalid  unless  patents  were  taken  out  for  their  con- 
firmation within  the  time  specified  in  the  act. 

By  a  proclamation  of  governor  Andross,  26th  No- 
vember, 1674,  a  term  of  the  court  of  sessions,  in  Suf- 
folk county,  was  suspended,  and  the  towns  of  Setauket, 
and  Huntington,  were  ordered  to  have  their  business 
for  that  term  transacted  at  the  ensuing  court  of  ses- 

46 


TOWN  OF  HUNTINGTON,  L.  I. 

sions  at  Jamaica,  in  Queen's  county;  because  the 
towns  of  East-Hampton,  South-Hampton,  and  South- 
Old,  had  not  returned  the  accounts  of  the  constables 
and  overseers  'of  those  towns  to  the  governor  accord- 
ing to  his  orders. 

April,  1682,  the  people  of  Huntington,  at  town- 
meeting,  voted  to  make  provision  for  the  time  and  ex- 
penses of  five  of  their  citizens  ' '  who  were  forced  to 
New- York,  and  suffered  imprisonment ' '  under  the 
same  governor,  on  what  pretence  is  not  stated ;  but  as 
a  meeting  of  delegates  from  the  several  towns  was 
held  there  shortly  before,  for  the  purpose  of  deliberat- 
ing on  their  political  condition,  it  is  conjectured  that  it 
was  to  punish  them  for  daring  to  exercise  the  rights 
of  freemen. 

FIRST    LEGISLATURE. 

The  arbitrary  measures  of  the  Duke's  governors 
produced  so  much  discontent,  that  he  was  at  length 
compelled  to  admit  the  people  to  a  share  in  the  legisla- 
tive power.  The  first  general  assembly  met  in  Octo- 
ber 1683,  after  which  the  Duke's  laws  ceased  to  oper- 
ate, except  such  as  were  adopted  or  recognized  by  the 
legislature. 

The  innovations  made  on  the  Duke's  laws  for  the 
administration  of  justice  by  the  legislature  of  1683, 
are  contained  in  the  act  published  in  the  appendix  to 
the  second  volume  of  the  revised  laws  of  1813. 


47 


ARBITRARY    POWER    OF    THE    GOVERNOR. 

After  the  organization  of  the  colony  legislature,  the 
governor  still  retained  many  prerogatives  which  he 
exercised  in  an  arbitrary  manner :  he  had  the  whole 
power  over  the  public  lands:  no  purchase  could  be 
made  without  his  licence,  and  no  purchase  was  of  any 
avail  unless  confirmed  by  patent  within  a  limited  time, 
and  for  these  he  extorted  such  sums  from  the  appli- 
cants as  his  avarice  dictated. 

The  fees  of  patents  constituted  the  principal  per- 
quisites of  the  governor,  and  the  quit  rent  charged  on 
them  formed  no  inconsiderable  part  of  the  public 
revenue. 

The  interest  which  the  governors  had  in  these, 
operated  as  an  inducement  to  multiply  the  number  of 
patents  and  enlarge  the  quit  rents  as  much  as  possible. 

In  1685,  governor  Dongan  issued  a  patent  to  certain 
persons  who  did  not  reside  in  the  town,  for  the  lands 
which  had  been  in  dispute  between  the  people  of  Hun- 
tington  and  the  proprietor  of  Smith-Town,  and  had 
been  divided  between  them  by  the  Court  of  Assize  in 
1675,  which  created  a  law-suit,  but  was  never  carried 
into  effect.  In  1686,  the  governor  ordered  the  people 
of  Huntington  to  purchase  the  lands  within  their  pa- 
tent which  were  not  then  purchased  of  the  Indians,  in 
order  that  they  might  be  compelled  to  take  out  a  new 
patent. 

The  quit  rent  charged  on  the  patent  of  Huntington 
was  not  fixed,  and  the  amount  which  that  should  be 

48 


TOWN  OF  HUNTINGTON,  L.  I. 

was  a  source  of  perpetual  altercation  between  the  peo- 
ple of  Huntington  and  the  Duke's  governors.  To 
compel  them  to  consent  to  its  being  fixed  agreeable  to 
his  wishes  in  1686  or  1687,  Governor  Dongan  seized 
their  patent,  and  before  he  would  consent  to  grant  a 
confirmation  of  it,  they  were  obliged  to  agree  to  raise 
£29  4  7  in  satisfaction  of  their  quit  rent,  and  for  the 
expense  of  a  new  patent,  which  was  granted  in  1688, 
and  the  quit  rent  fixed  at  20  shillings  a  year. 

APPLICATION    TO    CONNECTICUT. 

These  and  the  like  arbitrary  proceedings  of  the 
governors  induced  the  people  of  Huntington  to  unite 
with  the  people  of  the  other  towns  in  the  county,  in 
an  unsuccessful  effort  to  connect  themselves  with  the 
colony  of  Connecticut,  the  laws  and  institutions  of 
which  were  more  congenial  with  their  ideas  of  good 
government  than  those  of  the  Duke  of  York,  who  had 
now  become  King  James  the  Second. 

OF  THE  REVOLUTION  IN    FAVOUR    OF    WILLIAM    AND    MARY. 

The  abuses  which  they  had  suffered  under  the  gov- 
ernors, prompted  the  measures  that  were  taken  in 
New- York  in  1689,  in  favour  of  the  great  revolution, 
then  going  on  in  England,  in  behalf  of  William  and 
Mary,  and  which  terminated  in  the  expulsion  of  James 
the  Second  from  the  throne,  and  forever  put  an  end 
to  his  authority. 

The  patent  of  1688  was  signed  just  at  the  commence- 
ment of  those  divisions  respecting  the  measures  taken 

49 


A  SKETCH  OF 

in  favour  of  the  revolution  in  England  which  distracted 
the  colony  for  several  years,  and  was  not  carried  into 
effect  before  the  government  was  quietly  settled  under 
the  new  order  of  things,  when  the  people  of  Hunting- 
ton,  in  order  to  fix  the  limits  between  them  and 
Smith-Town,  agreeable  to  their  respective  titles  in 
1694,  took  out  their  present  patent  in  which  the  quit 
rent  was  fixed  at  40  shillings  a  year,  and  which  they 
discharged  by  commutation  under  act  of  the  legisla- 
ture of  this  state  in  1787. 

OF    THE    ROYAL    GOVERNORS. 

The  royal  governors,  after  the  revolution  in  1689,  in 
many  respects  resembled  their  predecessors;  they 
manifested  the  same  disposition  to  get  what  they  could 
from  the  people,  and  the  same  inclination  to  rule  with- 
out control,  although  they  had  less  power  to  gratify 
their  inclinations.  The  whole  colony  administration 
exhibits  a  constant  conflict  between  the  claims  and  en- 
croachments of  power  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  spirit 
of  liberty  struggling  to  defeat  them  on  the  other. 

OF    THE    AMERICAN    REVOLUTION. 

The  arbitrary  measures  of  the  provincial  governors 
taught  the  people  to  investigate  and  to  understand 
their  rights,  and  prepared  them  for  the  revolution  that 
terminated  in  the  independence  of  the  country.  The 
people  of  Huntington  were  almost  unanimously  in 
favour  of  it,  and  they  suffered  all  manner  of  hardships 
and  privations  during  the  war. 

5° 


TOWN  OF  HUNTINGTON,  L.  I. 

The  powers  of  the  colony  governor  were  suspended 
at  the  commencement  of  the  revolution,  and  the  gov- 
ernment was  administered  by  a  provincial  congress, 
aided  by  town  and  county  committees — Public  spirit 
supplied  the  place  of  authority,  and  gave  the  recom- 
mendations of  these  bodies  the  force  of  law. 

The  Island  was  surrendered  the  2pth  of  August, 
1776,  and  in  October,  governor  Tryon  came  to  Hunt- 
ington,  called  the  people  together,  and  by  threatening 
imprisonment  and  banishment  compelled  the  commit- 
tee, by  a  written  declaration,  to  disavow  and  condemn 
all  their  proceedings,  and  obliged  them  and  the  people 
generally,  to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance.  The  commit- 
tees of  the  other  towns  and  of  the  county,  were  com- 
pelled in  the  same  manner  to  sign  a  similar  declara- 
tion, and  the  people  to  take  the  same  oath. 

SUFFERINGS    DURING    THE    WAR. 

But  this  submission  afforded  them  no  protection  to 
their  persons  or  property;  they  were  not  treated  as 
subjects  or  prisoners,  but  according  to  the  caprice  of 
every  temporary  commander.  The  whole  country 
within  the  British  lines  was  subject  to  martial  law. 
The  administration  of  justice  was  suspended ;  the  army 
was  a  sanctionary  for  crimes  and  robbery,  and  the 
grossest  offences  were  atoned  by  enlistment. 

The  British  troops  were  stationed  in  Huntington,  at 
different  times  during  the  war,  and  the  persons  of  the 
inhabitants  were  subjected  to  the  orders,  and  their 
property  to  the  disposal,  of  the  British  officers. 


A  SKETCH  OF 

They  compelled  some  to  enlist — others  to  stand 
guard,  and  obliged  the  people  generally,  to  do  all 
kinds  of  personal  services ;  to  work  at  the  forts,  to  go 
with  their  teams  on  foraging  parties,  and  to  transport 
their  cannon,  ammunition,  provisions  and  baggage 
from  place  to  place,  as  they  changed  their  quarters, 
and  to  go  and  come  on  the  order  of  every  petty  officer 
who  had  the  charge  of  the  most  trifling  business. 

In  1781,  the  town  was  compelled  to  raise  £176  by  a 
general  tax,  as  a  commutation  for  personal  labour  to- 
wards digging  a  well  in  the  fort,  on  Lloyd's  Neck. 
The  officers  seized  and  occupied  the  best  rooms  in  the 
houses  of  the  inhabitants.  They  compelled  them  to 
furnish  blankets  and  fuel  for  the  soldiers,  and  hay  and 
grain  for  their  horses.  They  pressed  their  horses  and 
wagons  for  the  use  of  the  army ;  they  took  away  their 
cattle,  sheep,  hogs,  and  poultry,  and  seized  without 
ceremony  and  without  any  compensation,  or  for  such 
only  as  they  chose  to  make,  for  their  own  use  what- 
ever they  desired  to  gratify  their  wants  or  wishes. 

In  the  fall  of  1782,  at  the  conclusion  of  the  war, 
about  the  time  the  provisional  articles  of  the  treaty  of 
peace  were  signed  in  Europe,  Colonel  Thompson, 
(since  said  to  be  Count  Rumford,)  who  commanded 
the  troops  then  stationed  at  Huntington,  without  any 
assignable  purpose,  except  that  of  filling  his  own  pock- 
ets by  its  furnishing  him  with  a  pretended  claim  on 
the  British  treasury  for  the  expense  caused  a  fort  to 
be  erected  in  Huntington,  and  without  any  possible 


TOWN  OF  HUNTINGTON,  L.  I. 

motive  except  to  gratify  a  malignant  disposition  by 
vexing  the  people  of  Huntington,  he  placed  it  in  the 
centre  of  the  public  burying  ground,  in  defiance  of  a 
remonstrance  of  the  trustees  of  the  town,  against  the 
sacrilege  of  disturbing  the  ashes  and  destroying  the 
monuments  of  the  dead. 

In  April,  1783,  Sir  Guy  Carleton  instituted  a  board 
of  commissioners  for  the  purpose  of  adjusting  such 
demands  against  the  British  army  as  had  not  been 
settled.  The  accounts  of  the  people  of  Huntington 
for  property  taken  for  the  use  of  the  army,  which  were 
supported  by  receipts  of  British  officers,  or  by  other 
authentic  vouchers ;  which  were  prepared  to  be  laid 
before  the  board,  amounted  to  £7  249.  95.  6d.  and  these 
accounts  were  not  supposed  to  comprise  one  fourth 
part  of  the  property  which  was  taken  from  them  with- 
out compensation. 

These  accounts  were  sent  to  New- York  to  be  laid 
before  the  commissioners,  but  they  sailed  for  England 
before  they  had  examined  them,  and  the  people  from 
whom  the  property  was  taken  were  left  (like  their 
neighbours,  who  had  received  no  receipts  for  the  prop- 
erty taken  from  them,)  without  redress. 

But  the  inhabitants  of  Huntington  sustained  the 
greatest  abuse  from  the  British  refugees ;  who,  when 
ever  they  could  shelter  themselves  under  any  colour 
of  authority,  did  all  the  injury  in  their  power ;  they 
seized  the  farms  of  such  of  the  inhabitants  as  had  gone 
into  the  American  lines;  destroyed  the  timber,  and 


53 


A  SKETCH  OF 

suffered  them  to  go  to  ruin.  Those  among  them  who 
had  no  character  or  property,  generally  resorted  to 
Lloyd's  Neck,  and  devoted  themselves  to  pillage  and 
robbery ;  it  was  a  common  practice  with  them  to  hang 
the  inhabitants  whom  they  robbed,  until  they  were 
nearly  dead,  to  compel  them  to  give  them  their  money, 
and  if  they  were  detected,  they  enlisted,  and  this  ar- 
rested the  arm  of  justice,  shielded  them  from  punish- 
ment, and  enabled  them  to  bid  defiance  to  those  whom 
they  had  robbed  and  abused. 

These  abuses  evinced  the  value  of  that  maxim  of 
free  states  that  makes  the  military  subordinate  to  the 
civil  power,  and  taught  the  inestimable  value  of  civil 
laws  and  legal  liberty. 


54 


TOWN  OF  HUNTINGTON,  L.  /. 


NOTES. 


When  this  pamphlet  was  written  by  its  distinguished  author,  it 
was  to  call  attention  to  the  advantages  presented  by  that  part  of 
Long  Island,  as  a  plage  of  permanent  residence.  Previous  to  the 
Revolution,  Long  Island  was  the  most  important  portion  of  the 
Colony  of  New  York,  and  it  was  like  a  hive  that  at  different 
intervals  sent  out  swarms  of  inhabitants  to  settle  in  other  regions. 
In  fact,  the  Counties  along  the  Hudson  river,  had  in  addition  to 
their  original  inhabitants,  a  very  large  population  which  origi- 
nally came  from  Long  Island.  Mr.  Wood's  great  desire  was  not 
only  to  check  this  emigration,  but  to  attract  settlers  from  other 
parts.  The  pamphlet  which  was  printed  for  gratuitous  distribu- 
tion, attracted  much  attention  at  the  time,  and  to  some  extent 
realized  the  hopes  of  its  honored  author. 

The  patent  granted  to  the  town  of  Huntington  by  Governor 
Richard  Nicoll,  Nov.  30,  1666,  recites:  "Whereas  there  is  a 
certain  Town  within  this  Government  called  and  known  by  the 
name  of  Huntington,  now  in  the  tenure  and  occupation  of 
several  Freeholders  and  Inhabitants."  The  same  is  "  confirmed 
to  Jonas  Wood,  Wm.  Leveridge,  Robert  Seeley,  John  Ketcham, 
Thomas  Skidmore,  Isaac  Platt,  Thomas  Jones  and  Thomas 
Weeks,  in  behalf  of  themselves  and  associates."  Their  bounds 
were  "  From  a  certain  river  or  creeke  on  the  west  commonly 
called  by  the  Indyans  by  the  name  of  Nackagnatok,  and  by  the 
English  the  Cold  Spring,  and  to  stretch  eastward  to  Nasaquack 
river,  on  the  north  to  be  bounded  by  the  Sound,  running  be- 
twixt Long  Island  and  the  maine,  and  on  ye  South  by  ye  Sea, 
including  nine  several  necks  of  meadow  ground,  All  which  tracts 
of  land  together  with  the  said  necks,  are  to  belong  to  the  said 
Town  of  Huntington. ' ' 

55 


A  SKETCH  OF 

HORSE  NECK.      NO.  2  (PAGE  2>. 

This  Neck,  called  in  later  years  "Lloyd's  Neck,"  was  pur- 
chased from  its  original  owners  by  John  Richbell.  His  title  was 
disputed  by  John  Conkling,  of  Southold,  but  the  title  of  Richbell 
was  sustained.  He  sold  it  to  Nathaniel  Sylvester,  Thomas  Hunt 
and  Latimer  Sampson  and  a  patent  was  granted  to  them  by  Gov. 
Nicoll,  Nov.  20,  1667,  although  it  was  included  within  the  limits 
of  the  Patent  to  Huntington.  Nathaniel  Sylvester  sold  his 
share  to  the  other  two  owners.  Latimer  Sampson  left  his  share 
by  will  to  Grizzell,  the  eldest  daughter  of  Nathaniel  Sylvester, 
and  the  share  of  Thomas  Hunt  was  sold  by  his  attornies,  Robert 
Story  and  John  Brown,  to  James  Lloyd,  of  Boston.  He  married 
Grizzell  Sylvester,  and  thus  the  whole  tract  came  to  them.  Gov. 
Thomas  Dongan  granted  a  Patent  to  James  Lloyd,  March  18, 
1685,  and  established  it  as  a  "Lordship  and  manor  of  Queen's 
village,"  with  full  manorial  rights.  This  manorial  government 
continued  down  to  the  revolution,  nearly  100  years.  It  was  then 
abolished  and  the  territory  was  annexed  to  Queen's  County.  In 
recent  years  it  has  been  restored,  and  is  now  a  part  of  Suffolk 
County. 

THE   FIRST   PURCHASE.      NO.   2  (PAGE  l6). 

The  first  purchase  of  lands  in  Huntington  was  made  from 
Raskokan,  Sagamore  of  Matinecock,  by  Richard  Houldbrook, 
Robert  Williams  and  Daniel  Whitehead,  April  2,  1653,  "  Bounded 
on  the  West  side  with  a  river  commonly  called  by  the  Indians 
Nackaquetock,  on  the  north  by  the  Sea  [Sound],  and  going 
eastward  to  a  river  called  Opcatkantyoke,*  and  on  the  south  side 
to  the  utmost  part  of  my  bounds."  This  deed  is  signed  by  22 
Indians. 

ORIGIN   OF   NAME.      NO.   3  (PAGE  17). 

The  original  name  of  the  tract  embraced  in  this  town  was 
Ketewamoke.  The  town  was  called  Huntington  probably  in 

*  This  is  the  stream  at  the  head  of  Northport  Harbor. 

56 


TOWN  OF  HUNTINGTON,  L.  I. 

honor  of  the  village  in  England,  which  was  the  birthplace  of 
Oliver  Cromwell. 

THE   EASTERN   PURCHASE.      NO.  4  (PAGE  1 8). 

"  On  or  about  the  Last  day  of  July,  1656,"  the  Indian  Sachem 
Asharakan  sold  to  Jonas  Wood,  Wm.  Rogers  and  Thomas 
Wilkes  "All  the  meadows,  fresh  and  salt,  lying  and  being  on 
the  north  side  of  Long  Island,  from  our  former  bounds,  Cow 
Harbor  brooke,  to  Nessequake  river."  This  was  called  the 
Eastern  Purchase.  All  that  part  that  lies  east  of  Unthemamuck, 
or  the  Fresh  Pond,  was  claimed  by  Richard  Smith,  the  founder 
of  Smithtown,  on  the  ground  that  it  was  not  the  property  of  the 
above-named  Sachem,  but  was  a  part  of  the  land  conveyed 
by  the  Mantauk  Sachem,  Wyandauch,  to  Lyon  Gardiner. 
After  a  long  controversy,  the  claim  of  Richard  Smith  was 
sustained. 

THE  SOUTH  PURCHASE.   NO.  5  (PAGE  1 8). 

On  June  i,  1667,  Wyandouch  the  Great  Sachem  of  Mantauk, 
sold  to  Jonas  Wood,  ' '  for  himself,  and  the  rest  of  his  neighbors 
of  Huntington,"  "  Five  necks  of  meadow  lying  next  adjoining  to 
Massapeags  Sachems'  lands."  This  was  the  first  Indian  deed 
for  lands  on  the  south  side  of  Long  Island  in  Huntington. 
These  necks  were  bounded  on  the  north  by  the  ' '  Old  Indian 
Path, ' '  which  was  the  ancient  fording  place  where  the  Indians 
crossed  the  heads  of  the  various  creeks. 

On  Aug.  17,  1658,  Wyandanch  sold  to  Henry  Whitner,  of 
Huntington,  "for  the  use  of  the  whole  town  of  Huntington," 
"three  whole  necks  of  meadow  lying  on  the  southward  side  of 
that  town,  and  westwardly  from  the  6  necks  which  we  bought 
heretofore." 

This  deed  was  executed  through  Cockenoe,  the  famous  Indian 
interpreter,  as  agent  for  Wyandanch.  Among  the  various  arti- 
cles given  for  this  tract  was  "A  Great  Fine  Looking  Glass." 
This  is  probably  the  first  mention  of  a  looking  glass  in  Suffolk 
County. 

57 


A  SKETCH  OF 

POPULATION.      NO.  6  (PAGE  2). 

From  these  tables  it  will  be  seen  that  in  1820,  Huntington  was 
the  second  town  in  the  county  in  wealth  and  population.  A  few 
years  later  the  proportion  was  greatly  changed,  especially  by 
the  sudden  growth  of  villages  like  Sag  Harbor,  which  is  now 
and  has  been  for  some  years,  the  largest  village. 

BABYLON. 

In  old  times  the  region  now  embraced  in  the  town  of  Babylon 
was  known  as  "  Huntington  South."  The  town  of  Babylon  was 
established  in  1872. 

The  village  of  Babylon  is  situated  on  a  neck  known  in  early 
times  as  Sump  warn 's  Neck.  The  following  article  from  Dr. 
Wm.  Wallace  Tooker,  the  distinguished  student  of  the  Indian 
language,  explains  its  meaning: 

THE  NAME  SUMPWAMS  AND  ITS  ORIGIN. 

NO.  7  (PAGE  12). 
BY  WM.  WALLACE  TOOKER. 

The  name  Sumpwams  appears  about  twenty-one  times  in  the 
printed  records  of  the  town  of  Huntington,  with  the  following 
leading  variations  in  orthography,  viz. :  Sampaivame,  Sump- 
warns,  Sowampams,  1689;  Sumpawams,  1690;  Sampaumes, 
1697;  Sumpwams,  1740;  and,  although  "commonly  so-called" 
in  1689,  it  does  not  appear  earlier  in  the  records.  It  is  evident 
from  the  insistence  of  the  English  possessive,  that  the  neck  of 
land  on  which  the  name  was  originally  bestowed,  derives  its 
appellation  from  an  Indian  named  Sampawam  or  Sumpwam, 
who  formerly  lived  and  planted  there.  There  are  other  necks  of 
land  extending  into  Great  South  Bay,  and  contingent  waters, 
which  take  their  Indian  names  from  like  circumstances.  I  am 
aware  that  no  Indian,  designated  by  this  name  in  its  entirety, 
can  be  found  mentioned  in  the  records ;  but  there  is  one,  how- 
ever, whose  popular  cognomen  among  the  settlers,  may  be  a 
curtailed  reminder  of  Sumpwams.  In  the  "Indian  deed  for 

58 


TOWN  OF  HUNTINGTON,  L.  I. 

Sumpwams'  Neck"  (H.  R.  Vol.  i.  p.  171),  his  name  is  written 
"pwamas,"  which  is  seemingly  near  enough  to  the  conclusion, 
that  this  name  in  its  various  forms,  seldom  twice  alike,  is  a  collo- 
quial contraction.  Similar  change  is  noticed  in  the  English  con- 
traction "Szases"  for  Josiah's  Neck  in  the  same  township.  The 
meaning  of  Sump-warns  is  the  "straight  walker"  or  "he  goes 
straight,"  hence,  an  "upright  or  just  man."  The  prefix  Sump 
or  Saump,  being  the  equivalent  of  the  Narragansett  Saumpi; 
Massachusetts  Samp-wz,  signifying  primarily  "straight,"  "di- 
rect, ' '  and  by  metonymy,  ' '  just, ' '  upright,  right  in  action  or 
conduct,  being  used  more  often  in  this  sense  than  in  the  other  by 
Eliot  in  his  Indian  Bible.  The  terminal  is  the  verb  of  motion, 
in  the  third  person  singular  —  aum  =  8mt  or  ^as  Eliot  sometimes 
wrote  it,  w8m,  "he  goes,"  hence  we  have  in  Eliot's  notation 
Samp-TV 8m' s  Neck. 

The  full  account  of  the  lengthy  controversy  between  Smith - 
town  and  Huntington  may  be  found  in  the  printed  volume  of 
Smithtown  Records.  No.  8  (page  17). 

The  tract  of  land  known  as  Winnecomac,  now  a  part  of  Smith- 
town,  was  an  independent  purchase  made  by  Charles  Congreve, 
and  the  greater  part  of  which  was  afterwards  owned  by  Rip  Van 
Dam,  a  very  prominent  citizen  of  New  York.  A  dispute  between 
the  owners  of  the  tract,  and  the  town  of  Huntington,  as  regards 
the  south  line  was  settled  by  agreement.  No.  9  (page  18). 

"  Square  Pit  purchase  "  is  a  misprint  for  Squaw  pit  purchase, 
a  well  known  tract  near  the  middle  of  the  town.  No.  10  (page  27). 

Zophar  Patt  is  a  misprint  for  Zophar  Platt,  a  very  prominent 
member  of  a  well  known  family.  For  a  full  account,  see  Thomp- 
son's Hist,  of  L.  I.  No.  ii  (page  37). 

The  Code  enacted  by  the  Duke  of  York  was  published  in  a 
manuscript  volume,  copies  of  which  were  sent  to  each  town.  So 
far  as  we  know  only  two  of  these  original  copies  are  in  existence, 
one  in  Huntington,  and  one  in  Southampton.  The  whole  was 
printed  many  years  since  by  the  New  York  Historical  Society. 
No.  12  (page  44). 

59 


INDEX. 


Adams,  John,  37. 
American  Revolution,  50. 
Andross,  Gov.,  46. 
Babylon,  58. 
Baiting  Place,  27. 
Brook  Haven,  3,  4. 
Brown,  John,  56. 
Carleton,  Sir  Guy,  53. 
Charles  2nd,  43. 
Close,  John  (Rev.),  35- 
Cockenoe  (Indian  Interpreter), 

57- 

Cold  Spring,  19,  25,  37,  55. 
Cold    Spring   Harbour,    i,    n, 

13.  16. 

Congreve,  Chas.,  59. 
Conkling,  John,  55. 
Copiage,  vii. 

Cow  Harbour,  n,  16,  34,  37,  57. 
Crab-Meadow,  23,  37. 
Cromwell,  Oliver,  57. 
Dix  Hills,  7. 
Dongan,  Thos.   (Gov.),   48,  49, 

56. 

Duke's  Government,  44. 
Duke's  Government,  Tyranny 

of,  45- 

Duke's  Laws,  19,  20. 
East-Hampton,  3,  4,  17,  47. 
Eaton,  Gov.,  16. 


Eaton's  Neck,  16. 
Fire  Island  Inlet,  n,  12. 
Fresh  Pond,  i,  18,  37. 
Gardiner's  Island,  20. 
Gardiner,  Lyon,  17,  20,  57. 
Governor  Royal,  50. 
Greaton,  James  (Rev.),  37. 
Half  Way  Hollow  Hills,  12,  13, 

27. 

Hart,    Mr.     (Minister    Smith- 
town),  37. 

Hempstead  vn.,  n,  43. 
Hollow  Hills,  10. 
Horse  Neck,  2,  16,  23,  56. 
Houldbrook,  Richard,  56. 
Huntington — 

Admission  of  Settlers,  32. 

Agriculture,  9. 

Animals,  15. 

Boundary,  i. 

British  Troops  in,  51. 

Character  of  First  Settlers,  31. 

Climate,  5. 

Courts  of,  40. 

Division  of  the  Lands,  27. 

Eastern  Purchase,  57.  ^ 

First  Indian  Deed,  16. 

First  Legislature,  47. 

First  Purchase  of,  56. 

First  Settlement  of,  16. 


61 


INDEX. 


Huntingdon — 

Governor's  Powers,  48. 

Harbours,  Bays,  Creeks,  n. 

Indian  Proprietors  of,  17. 

Laws  of  Timber  Cutting,  22. 

Measures  for  Security,  39. 

Meeting  Houses,  36. 

Mills  in,  37. 

Ministry  of,  33. 

Mode  of  Obtaining  Land,  24. 

Negotiations  with  Conn.,  42. 

Origin  of  Name,  56. 

Political  State  of,  38. 

Population,  2,  58. 

Soil,  8. 

South  Purchase,  57. 

State  of  the  Indians,  18. 

Surface  of,  7,  21. 

Timber  of,  14. 

Trade  of,  28. 
Hunt,  Thomas,  56. 
Huyck,  Catherine,  vin. 
Islip,  3,  4,  ii. 
Jamaica,  47. 
Johnstown,  vin. 
Jones,  Eliphalet  (Rev.),  34. 
Jones,  Mr.  (Minister),  19. 
Jones,  Thomas,  55. 
Ketcham,  John,  55. 
Ketewamoke,  56. 
Kieft,  Gov.,  16. 
Kings  Co.,  3,  5. 
Leveredge,    Wm.    (Rev.),    33, 

34.  55- 
Lloyd's  Harbour,  n. 


Lloyd,  James,  56. 

Lloyd's  Neck,  56. 

Lloyd's  Neck,  Fort  at,  52,  54. 

Massapeags  Indians,  17. 

Matinecoes  Indians,  17. 

Montgomery  County,  N.Y.,vm. 

Mouches,  12. 

Nackagnatok,  55. 

Nackaquetock  River,  56. 

Narraganset  Indians,  20. 

Nasaquack  River,  55. 

New  York  Historical  Society, 

59- 

New  York,  repair  of  Fort,  46. 
Nissaquage  River,  17,  25. 
Nicoll,  Richard,  43,  55. 
Old  Indian  Path,  57. 
Opcatkantyoke  River,  56. 
Oyster  Bay,  n,  16,  46. 
Oyster  Bay,  Fort  at,  39. 
Paumanacke,  Sachem  of,  20. 
Peconic  River,  vn. 
Pequod  Indians,  21. 
Pratt,  Zophar,  37,  59. 
Plott,  Isaac,  55. 
Prime,  Ebenezer  (Rev.),  34. 
Princeton  College,  vn. 
Queens  Co.,  3,  5. 
Queen's  Village,  56. 
Raskokan,  Sagamore  of  Matine- 

cock,  56. 

Richbell,  John,  55. 
River  Head,  3,  4. ' 
Rockway,  n. 
Rogers,  Wm.,  57. 


62 


INDEX. 


Ralph,  Moses,  ix. 

Rumford,  Count,  52. 

Sag  Harbour,  58. 

Sampson,  Latimer,  56. 

Secataugs  Indians,  17. 

Seeley,  Robt.,  55. 

Setauket,  42. 

Shelter  Island,  3,  4. 

Skidmore,  Thos.,  55. 

Smith,  Elizabeth,  x. 

Smith,  Josiah,  x. 

Smith,  Richard,  17,  57. 

Smithfield,  17. 

Smith,  Jeremiah,  37. 

Smith  Town,  3,  4,  18,  20,  48,  50. 

Smithtown  Records,  59. 

South  Hampton,  vu.,  3,  4,  n, 

16,  46,  47,  59. 
South  Old.,  3,  4,  46,  47. 
Spooner,  Alden  J.,  ix. 
Square  Pit,  27. 
Square  Pit  Purchase,  59. 
Sticklin,  Mr.,  vu. 
Story,  Robt,  56. 
Suffolk  Co.,  3,  5,  38,  56. 
Sumpwams'  Neck,  58. 
Sump  warns,  Origin  of  Name,  58. 
Sunken-Meadow,  23. 
Sunquam's  Neck,  i,  12,  13. 
Sweet  Hollow,  x. 


Sylvester,  Grizzell,  56. 

Sylvester,  Nathaniel,  56. 

Thompson,  Col.,  36,  52. 

Tooker,  Wm.  Wallace,  58. 

Townsend,  Sylvanus,  37. 

Tryon,  Gov.    51. 

Unthemamuck,  57. 

Van  Dam,  Rip,  59. 

Velsor,  John,  13. 

Weeks,  Thomas,  55. 

West  Hills,  vii.,  10. 

West  Neck,  i. 

Whitehead,  Daniel,  56 

Whitman's  Hollow,  18. 

Whitner,  Hy.,  57. 

Wilkes,  Thos.,  57. 

William  and  Mary,  49. 

Williams,  Robert,  56. 

Winnacomac  Patent,  i,  18,  59. 

Wood,  Jonas,  vu.,  55,  57. 

Wood,  Joshua,  vii. 

Wood,  Ruth,  vu. 

Wood,  Samuel,  vii. 

Wood,  Selah,  vii. 

Wood,      Silas,       Biographical 

Sketch  of,  vii. -x. 
Wyandance  Sachem,  17,  20,  57 
Yonkers  Purchase,  27. 
York,  Duke  of,  Code,  59. 
York,  Duke  of,  43. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  AT  LOS  ANGELES 

THE  UNIVERSITY  LIBRARY 


This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below 


JAN  1?  1938 
Ji 


Form  L-9-15m-3,'34 


of  CALIFORNIA 


F129 

H9W8  Wood  - 


Silas  Wood»s 
sketch  of  the  town 


of  Huntlngton.  L.I, 


UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIB! 


A    0013708 


